The Future
by Gameboy Rocker
Summary: Spock and Kirk go on what starts as a vacation, until a freak accident of nature launches them into the future and puts them onboard Captain Picard's Enterprise. Chapter 17 is up.
1. Chapter 1

Spock didn't really know what to expect from his best friend, and the ship's captain, James T. Kirk. Jim had told him to 'be ready to have a good time', but, being a Vulcan, Spock had never had a 'good time'—at least, not that he was aware of.

Kirk had convinced him—not an easy task, mind you—of the logical reasoning behind taking time off for shore leave. Spock had, of course, been adamantly against it at first. He had given his captain all the usual responses—"Captain, I do not require rest", and, "Captain, as a Vulcan, rest is nothing but a waste of time that could be better spent doing something effective. I obtain all the needed restoration from my normal sleep patterns onboard the _Enterprise_."

At first, Jim had launched back with emotional replies. "It'll be good for you, Spock," or, "Let's just get away for a while," or, "Spock, you'll have a good time," all of which Spock was able to outdo with logical reasoning.

Then, Jim did it—he pulled the Captain Card. The card that, when all else fails, always works.

"Mister Spock, I _order_ you come on shore leave with me. I don't care that you don't want to; I don't care that you don't need it; you're coming."

So that was why Spock was here, in the rather undignified outfit of navy swimshorts and leather sandals, following his captain, who was in yellow trunks and flip flops. Spock had a blue towel flung over his shoulder, Kirk had a white one, and also two pairs of goggles in his hands.

"What are those visual aids for, Captain?" Spock had asked Jim earlier, when they were first leaving the Kirk's home to head towards the lake Jim had always gone to as a younger man.

"Come on, Spock," Kirk had said, a grin playing upon his face. "Someone as smart and logical as you can't come to a conclusion of what a pair of goggles are for?"

Spock raised his eyebrow, a gesture Kirk had come to expect. "I would assume, Captain, that their purpose would be enabling you to see underwater. But why you need two pairs is beyond my capacities for deduction."

"I don't need two pairs, Spock. The other one is for you."

"Captain, I do not intend to submerge myself."

"Spock—"

"Captain. I have done what you asked of me; I have come on shore leave with you; I have come to Iowa with you. I was not aware that you intended to take me swimming with you."

Kirk had smiled and put his hand on Spock's shoulder. "Surprise."

"Captain, if I may. It is quite unwise of you to enter into water at this temperature."

"And what temperature is that, Mr. Spock?"

"Forty-two point three-three-six degrees Fahrenheit. Or, forty-two point three-four degrees, if you prefer."

Kirk grinned. "Mister Spock, when I was a young boy, I swam in water fifty degrees colder than this."

Spock squinted his eyebrows together, his mouth set in a straight, contemplative line. "That is quite impossible, Captain. The current temperature of this water is hardly above freezing. It is most illogical to reference a time that you swam in water that was negative eight point three-four degrees. It would be frozen solid. I suggest you make your exaggerations a bit more believable."

Kirk, meanwhile, was rolling his eyes. "I was just meaning to say that I'm used to it. I've done it before, and yes, it is freezing at first, but then you get used to it. No big deal. If I wake up tomorrow with a runny nose and a sore throat, it certainly wouldn't be the first time."

Spock raised his eyebrows. "Well, since you seem adamant to ignore my warnings, I see no logical purpose in continuing them."

"Good."

"However, I am compelled to inform you that I shall not be joining you 'for a dip'."

This slang phrase caught Kirk off-guard, and he looked over at Spock with a smirk. "For a dip?"

Spock nodded. "I am correct in the usage of the phrase, am I not?"

"Perfectly correct. I just wasn't expecting it."

"Ah."

"Well, Spock, I can't say that I'm not sorry to hear you won't be joining me. But, I guess you do have a viable excuse—being from a planet as hot as yours, I can only imagine what forty-two point-three degree water would feel like. An ice bath. Torture."

"Forty-two point three-four degrees, Captain. And yes, the experience would be most unpleasant. I am, however, content to sit and make notations on the moss growing on that tree to your left. I've never seen such a peculiar breed."

"Working on shore leave," Kirk said with another roll of his eyes. "Incredible."

Spock ignored his captain's sarcastic comment and settled against the tree, enjoying the feel of the sun against his pale skin. He ran his long fingers over the soft moss and watched as Kirk dropped his towel on the ground and walked to the water's edge. He edged his feet into the water and laughed when it engulfed his feet.

"Is something amusing, Captain?" Spock wondered aloud.

"No, Spock. I was just thinking of a time I came here with Sam. It was our first day of summer vacation. I was in…seventh grade, I believe. He and I came here and he dared me to walk on my hands in the deepest part of the lake."

"And?"

"And…let's just say, it didn't work."

"That is not surprising. It's a difficult task, even on land."

"Well, I certainly couldn't do it today if you asked me to."

"Why would I ask you to perform such a demeaning act, Captain?"

Kirk sighed. "Spock. It was a figure of speech. I don't really expect you to ask me to walk on my hands. I can't imagine why you would want to see it, except to laugh at me. And Spock, you don't have to call me Captain. For God's sake, we're at a lake out in the middle of nowhere. I don't think you'll be chastised for calling me Jim. Clear?"

"Perfectly, Cap—Jim."

Kirk chuckled and inched a little further into the water, now just a few inches away from being up to his knees. He stood still for a moment, letting his body adjust to the cold temperature of the water, and then took a big step so that his knees were both completely under water. "Come on, Spock!" He shouted at his friend, who was still sitting with his back against the moss-covered tree. "Come in!"

"I am quite content here, thank you."

Kirk shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Spock closed his eyes and entered into a loose state of meditation. It was more of a nostalgic state than a meditative one—he began thinking of his life, from the time that he had left Vulcan to enlist in Starfleet. He had hoped, as had his mother, Amanda, that the older, more mature, adolescents at Starfleet would be more open to the idea of having an Extraterrestrial as their lab partner, or to perform a duet with, or to be roommates with, or to study with.

To a certain degree—thirty-two percent, to be precise—this had been achieved. While this still left much to be desired, it was an improvement on the degree of acceptance he had received on Vulcan, which was closer to ten percent. His classmates had never been able to see past the Human part of him. While he excelled in school, the sciences in particular, the children his age had also been excelling in the control over their emotions, where Spock had little, and in some cases, no, control at all over his. As a young boy, he had often felt resentment towards his mother, wishing that she didn't have to be Human, blaming her for his difficulties. Then, he had come to realize that while having emotions is illogical, being able to empathize with the hundreds of other species with humans made it all worthwhile. He would have an edge over his classmates in whatever it was he decided to do with his life, if, somehow, he could just get a handle on his feelings.

His captain's voice cut through his reminiscing. "Spock! Spock! _Spock!_"

Spock jerked his head up in surprise. "Jim?"

He turned his head towards the lake, where he saw Jim splashing madly. "Captain?" he said, a little louder than he had spoke before.

"Spock! Help me! Spock! Spo—"

Jim Kirk disappeared underwater. Spock waited for ten seconds, but he did not reemerge.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, as my Christmas gift to my readers (lol, all five of you or whatever haha, oh, and to those of you that reviewed, thank you very much! I'll need your feedback even moreso in the next few chapters!), I finally finished the next section of this story, where they actually end up on the _Enterprise._ I have an idea of what's to come, I just haven't got it totally planned out yet...you know how it is, you know what you want to happen, basically, but you don't know how to get there. lol. But yeah, thank you for reviewing, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all of you! Oh, and I don't own Star Trek, unfortunately, I just love the characters and wish there had've been more interaction between the series! lol.

"Jim!" Spock shouted, hoping that Jim could hear him even through the water. "I'm coming!"

Without hesitation, Spock ran into the water. When it was deep enough that he could swim, he dropped his body and looked towards where he had seen Kirk go under. The water was freezing, and his Vulcan body was having a hard time adapting to its low temperature, but he wasn't thinking about that right now—the only thing on his mind was his friend.

Once submerged underwater, he opened his eyes, his inner eyelid acting as a shield against the lake's murk. He scanned the area for his captain, but he couldn't see any sign of him. He swam towards where Jim had been before, but he found nothing. After a few more seconds of searching and scanning, Spock's lungs screamed at him for air, so he reluctantly returned to the surface, where he took a deep breath and began to dive again when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Spock!"

Spock looked in the direction of his captain's voice, human relief flooding over him. "Jim?"

Kirk was sitting on the water's edge, his feet still in the water. A wide grin was on his face—as was a look of pure innocence.

Spock was relieved, but confused. "Captain," he began to ask, "how—"

"It got you in the water, didn't it?" Kirk said with a smirk. He watched Spock as the Vulcan tried to piece together what had happened.

"You…You deceived me."

Kirk laughed, shrugging his wide shoulders. "Guilty."

"I was not asking a question; I was stating a fact." Spock still didn't seem to fully understand what had happened. He looked down at his body; he was in water up to his navel. His friend had been right; what had initially been freezing water now felt fine to him. But, he would probably be ill tomorrow.

"Now that I am in the water, what would be the acceptable behavior to initiate?"

Kirk tossed him a pair of goggles. They landed near him and floated on the water's surface. Spock reached forward and picked them up.

"Wear those."

"Captain—Jim—I do not require such a device. My Vulcan eyes can be opened underwater without causing me the same discomfort that you humans would experience in such a situation."

Kirk smirked. "Oh, I'm sure of it," he said, his tone playful. "But still—I just want to see what you look like in them."

Spock raised an eyebrow and twitched his head. "I imagine that I would look like anyone would wearing a pair of goggles."

"Care to put that theory to the test?"

Spock inhaled slowly—his Vulcan equivalent to a sigh. He lifted the goggles above his head and then slowly pulled them down to cover his eyes. "Satisfied?"

Kirk tried to control himself—a smile was trying to creep onto his face, but he managed to maintain his composure—for a few seconds, at least. It wasn't long before Kirk was laughing, a hand on his stomach, which was soon aching from his amusement of the whole situation. It was just too funny for him, seeing Spock—Spock the Vulcan, Spock the emotionless being, Spock the second in command of the strongest ship in the fleet—wearing a pair of huge, unflattering goggles.

"What is so amusing?" Spock asked. "I have them on correctly, do I not?"

This only made Kirk double over again. "Oh, Spock," he said in between laughs, "you are just too funny."

"I assure you, that is not my intention," Spock quickly defended himself.

Kirk put his own goggles on and dove back into the water, swimming in Spock's direction. "Having fun yet?"

Spock narrowed his eyes. "Fun, Captain?"

"Okay, maybe 'fun' isn't the right word for it. Are you—"

"I will admit that I am fortunate to have been able to experience the—exhilaration—that comes with being immersed in water of this low temperature. What I initially believed would be an unpleasant experience proved to be most—fascinating."

Kirk smiled, knowing that 'fascinating' was the most positive feedback he could, and would, ever get from Spock. "So you are having a good time?"

Tilting his head, Spock looked thoughtful for a moment, before replying, rather concisely, "Yes. I am."

"Come with me, then. I want to show you something."

Without a further word, Spock lowered himself into the water. He surveyed the bottom of the lake—the moss-covered rocks, the dark sand, the small fish that swam next to him. Kirk swam next to him, then turned and headed for the deeper part of the lake, motioning for Spock to follow him. Both went up to take a breath, and then dove again.

Kirk was once again reminiscing of a time he had come to the lake with his brother—they had dove at the same position that he and Spock just had, and after swimming to the deepest part of the lake, they had come across a huge cave. Kirk saw, as he continued swimming deeper and deeper, that the cave was still there, exactly as he remembered it.

His lungs were getting tight now, and, as he looked over at the Vulcan, he could tell that Spock was in desperate need of air as well. Kirk gave him a thumbs-up, hoping that Spock even knew what the gesture meant, and then waved at him to follow. He remembered diving to the cave with Sam, and then swimming through a tunnel and coming up into a chamber etched out by erosion over the years. He would take Spock there.

In seconds, he saw the tunnel, and, remembering how short it was, took the challenge of swimming the extra few feet for to the chamber. He checked once to make sure that Spock was still behind him.

Soon he was at the end of the tunnel, and he instantly put his arms at his sides and shot up towards the surface, taking in a huge breath when his head was above the water. He heard Spock come up beside him and do the same.

Kirk looked around, and instantly felt confused—this wasn't what he remembered. What he and Sam had found was nothing more than the inside of a cave; what he and Spock were now in was what resembled to be nothing more than a small lake. They were surrounded by trees, bushes, everything that was in the forest they had just come from.

"Where are we?" Kirk muttered, his confusion evident in his voice. Spock stared at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Captain? Is this not what you wished to show me?"

"No," Kirk said. "No, it's not. At least, it's not how I remember it. Sam and I, a few years ago, swam through that tunnel that you and I just did, but when we came up, we were in a cave—not the forest." He looked at Spock. "Spock, I don't suppose…I don't know, that the cave could've been eroded away and all this taken its place?" Before Spock could answer, Kirk said, "No, I know that's impossible. Sam and I were only here thirty years ago, but these trees are huge. Not to mention, the cave was underwater…I don't understand."

"Perhaps you 'missed a turn', Captain."

Despite his confusion and the small amount of anxiety creeping into his mind, Kirk smiled. "No, Spock. I assure you, I know exactly where I am. Well, where I'm supposed to be. You know what I mean."

Kirk swam to the water's edge and pulled himself out of the lake, leaning back against a tree. "This place is a lot nicer than where we were," he told Spock. "It's a lot shadier out here. I vote we eat our lunch here."

"Would you like me to go get it, Captain?"

Kirk shook his head. "Well, that's not very fair, is it, Spock? No, I can get it. Or at least go with you to get it." Fortunately, their 'lunch' consisted of nothing more than artificial cubical meals—no sandwiches, salads, or soups to get soggy on the way to their new-found setting.

"I don't mind," Spock insisted. "My lungs are more capable than yours for the task. Also, I do believe I am the faster swimmer."

Kirk smirked. "Pretty impatient, aren't you?"

Spock furrowed his eyebrows. "I am not impatient, Captain. I am hungry."

Laughing, Kirk nodded. "All right, then. Thank you, Mister Spock."

"My pleasure, Captain."

"Jim."

"My pleasure, Jim."

Kirk closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the tree. The warm sun, the light breeze—it was enough to make anyone sleepy, and he was no exception. He hated to think that, in just three days, he would be due back on the _Enterprise_ for another six months of surface before his next few days of shore leave. Not that he didn't like being on the _Enterprise_, of course—he loved it. He loved the people, the missions, the thrills, the challenges, the successes, everything. His life would be a lot different if he weren't on the _Enterprise_—first and foremost, he would never had met Spock. He couldn't imagine never having met the Vulcan—where would be now without him?

"Jim."

Kirk jumped in surprise at Spock's sudden voice. "Yeah, Spock?" He couldn't help but notice the anxiety that had been in Spock's voice. "You certainly got that food quick."

"Captain, I did not get the food. Something is wrong. When I dove in the direction we had come from, I found no way to return to our previous position. There are no tunnels. In fact, this water—" he nodded at the lake he had just emerged from—"is only ten and a half feet deep, whereas the lake we arrived from was approximately twenty-three and a half."

Kirk was confused. "You're saying that that lake, right in front of me, the lake that we both just came out of, isn't the same lake that we both _just _came out of?"

It sounded ridiculous, even to Spock, but the Vulcan said it anyway. "Yes, Captain. That is exactly what I am saying."

"Then where the hell are we?" Kirk asked, standing up. He looked around, hoping to find some clue within the trees.

Then, he heard it—voices. It sounded like a man and a woman talking. Kirk felt relief rush over him.

"You hear that, Spock? There are other people here. They'll be able to tell us where we are."

Spock nodded. "That would be a logical deduction, Captain." He pointed towards the trees. "I believe they are in that direction."

The two began walking in the direction that Spock had deducted. The voices got louder as they walked further into the brush, until Spock could make out what the two were saying.

"—think I'd be way too nervous on the Bridge to do whatever he asked me to do. But, maybe that goes away with time," the woman said.

Then, the man answered her: "It's really intimidating your first few shifts. I still remember my first time serving on the Bridge. Then I came on the _Enterprise_ and met Captain Picard for the first time. He decided it'd be a good time to _test_ me, so he had me manually put the saucer section and the lower half of the ship back together. I was so nervous—but, at the same time, I knew that I could do it."

"Captain," Spock said, reaching out and lightly touching Kirk's arm. "This is most fascinating."

"What is, Spock?" Kirk asked. His human ears hadn't been able to make out the words that the man and woman were exchanging.

"They are talking about 'the Bridge'," Spock said.

"So?"

"The _Enterprise_ Bridge."

Kirk stopped walking. He looked at Spock. "There weren't any other crewman scheduled to come to Iowa on shore leave, were there?"

"Not that I am aware of. I do not recognize the voices, either."

"Is there another ship called _Enterprise _that you know of?"

"No, Captain. They are also talking about the ship's captain—but not of you. They were referring to a Captain Picard."

"Picard?" Kirk thought for a moment. "I don't know of anyone named Picard."

"Nor do I."

"You gentlemen need some help?"

Kirk and Spock both looked, surprised, in the direction the voice had come from. A man, probably a few years short of forty, stood a few feet away from them. He had dark brown hair, a beard and laughing blue-gray eyes. Kirk stared at the man.

"You could say that," he said, reluctant to tell the whole story for the fear of looking like a mental case. "My friend and I—" he nodded at Spock, "were just looking for—"

"Wait, wait," the man interrupted. "You—You look like Captain Kirk."

Kirk felt his mouth open in surprise. "Well, I—I am Kirk. But how do you—"

The man looked even more surprised than Kirk did. He looked at Spock. "And you—you're Spock!" He smiled, a grin that obviously expressed ironic disbelief. "Of all the holodeck programs that I had to pick, I picked the one with Captain Kirk and Commander Spock."

"Holodeck programs?" Spock questioned. "What is a holodeck program, sir?"

The man raised his eyebrows. "You know, like…a computer program Of course, the late Enterprise didn't have them. But for some reason, our computer has programmed you into its version of Earth, late nineteenth century, Rockford, Maine."

"You are incorrect, sir," Spock said. "This is Iowa. Twenty-third century. Nor is this simply a 'computer program', as you put it. This—"

The man interrupted Spock with a smile. "Well, of course I don't expect you two to accept the fact that—well—that you're not real. I wouldn't want to accept it, either. But you—"

"Look, whoever you are," Kirk said, stepping between Spock and the man, "we are just as real as you are, okay? Now, I don't know what damn computer program you're talking about, but we just came down to Iowa for shore leave, all right? I wanted to show Spock an underwater cave, so the two of us dove, then when we came up to where the cave _used_ to be, we ended up here. All right?"

The bearded man opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off. "_Commander Riker, this is Lieutenant Commander Data. Captain Picard wishes you to return to the Bridge." _

The man tapped his chest. Kirk noticed, for the first time, a shiny Starfleet-designed badge pinned on his uniform. "What's up, Data?"

"…_Up, Sir? The ceiling is up. Hot air is up. When one is—"_

"Data, I mean what's going on."

"_Ah. Starfleet has sent a Priority One message to the Enterprise, Sir. It seems our services are required to assist some feuding colonists on the planet Titus III, in the Valaris sector."_

Kirk and Spock exchanged confused glances. Starfleet? The _Enterprise_? The Valaris sector? These all sounded familiar to them, but at the same time, so unfamiliar.

"I'm on my way. Riker out." The bearded man tapped the pin on his chest once more. "Well, gentlemen," he said, turning back to Kirk and Spock, "you heard the orders. I'm sure you did your fair share of helping people settle their disputes." He turned around to look in the direction he had approached them from. "Sarah! They need me back on the Bridge! I'm sorry, but I'll have to cut our time short!" Then, he looked towards a nearby clearing. "Computer," he said, "Exit."

Kirk jumped in surprise when he saw an arch appear no doubt a highly technically advanced piece of machinery. But their _Enterprise _equipment seemed to pale in comparison…

"You two enjoy yourselves," the man, Riker, said to them, a wide grin on his face. "Hopefully we can continue our chat at a later time."

With those final words, he turned and walked towards the doors placed under the arch which, not surprisingly, slid open when he had neared them. When he was through them, the doors closed and the arch disappeared.

Kirk turned to Spock immediately. "What do you make of all this, Spock?"

Spock shook his head. "I have not been able to fully grasp the situation yet," he admitted. "Perhaps if we…Computer, exit."

The same arch that Riker had just vanished from was now in front of them again. Spock turned to Kirk, as if asking permission to continue. "Captain?"

Kirk nodded in affirmation and led the way through the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Too my reviewers, thank you very much! I really appreciate the positive feedback I'm getting, and I'd like to hear any negative feedback that anyone may have, as well! So thanks again for taking the time to do that! I'm not really sure how I'll go with this, as far as *ahe* certain relationships between *ahem* certain characters are concernced. I've got a really sweet idea that would lean more on the slashy side, but I guess it could work with friendship too. And yes, I know that they WEREN'T together, but still, I can dream, right? lol. Oh, and this chapter is a little shorter than the other two, but it's because I really got a writers block on how to transition from this to the next scene that I've got going, so I just figured I'd cut it off instead of trying to BS my way through it lol.**

Kirk couldn't help but notice all the stares that he and Spock were receiving as they walked through the halls of—well, of wherever exactly it was that they were. Disturbed as he was, he was even more disturbed that he couldn't figure out the reason _why_ people were staring at them. Was it because they were wearing swim trunks and nothing else? Was it because they were dripping water on the carpeted floors? Surely these people had seen odder things.

"Captain," Spock noted aloud, "these humans are all wearing what appear to be Starfleet uniforms."

Kirk had noticed it, too. Even though he knew he had never been on this ship—whatever it was—he felt like it was familiar to him. None of the people looked familiar, and it seemed a lot bigger than the _Enterprise_ he remembered, but something was still the same.

Spock, his hearing much better than Kirk's, was able to pick up some of the whispers the people were exchanging as they passed—_"Was that Spock?", "That looked like Captain Kirk!" "Wow, they look a lot younger than I remember them!" _Fascinating, Spock thought to himself. They appear to know us, yet we do not know them.

"I suggest we find the Bridge," Spock told Kirk. "If there is any place onboard where we will find our answers, it will be there."

Kirk raised an eyebrow, a rather Spock-like gesture. "The Bridge? So you really think that this is the _Enterprise_?"

"I do not know what to think, Captain. Given that we have no logical alternatives, I believe the best course of action is to use what we already know and proceed accordingly."

Kirk nodded; as usual, Spock's solution made sense, and he would feel like a fool to argue against him. "All right, Mister Spock. The Bridge shouldn't be hard to access—all we need is a turbolift. Surely there's one around here somewhere."

The two walked further down the hall, Kirk trying to ignore the looks he was still receiving and Spock taking in every minute detail. It wasn't long before they reached the end of the hall and, as expected, a set of doors that slid open when they approached them.

"Bridge," Kirk said, and twisted around to pull on the start lever, surprised to see that no such device was in this turbolift. Immediately, though, he felt his body be lightly swayed when the lift started moving. Kirk looked over at Spock.

"This is weird, huh?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. " 'Weird' is not exactly how I would describe it. Of course, there is a certain degree of peculiar sensation one would expect to experience in a situation such as this."

Kirk smirked. "And what situation is this, Mister Spock?"

Spock looked at Kirk. "Finding ourselves in a time and place other than our own, and not knowing how we arrived here."

"You're not scared, are you?" Kirk said, still grinning.

"Being scared is an emotional state, Captain, one of which I am incapable of experiencing."

"Incapable? Or just unlikely?"

Spock paused before answering and, before he did, he returned his gaze to an unknown point directly in front of him. "Incapable."

"Liar."

Before Spock could argue, the turbolift doors opened. He and Kirk stared wide-eyed at the scene before them—it was quite different than the Bridge they were used to, much bigger, for one. The familiar computers against the back wall were still present, though they looked much more impressive than the ones they were used to.

A huge view screen was in the very front of the Bridge, looking out towards what lay ahead. What was currently on the screen, Spock saw, was an orange planet. The person sitting in what would be Chekov's post on his _Enterprise_ was a young human male, probably no older than twenty years old. The man in Sulu's position—if he even was a man—had white skin and stiff, dark brown hair. Kirk seemed to notice him at the same time. He squeezed Spock's arm.

"What is that?" he whispered, pointing towards the—the thing—in the chair.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I was attempting to ascertain that myself, Captain. He appears to be—"

"Captain!"

Spock and Kirk jerked their heads around in surprise. Kirk's eyes widened immediately when he saw whom the voice had come from. A huge Klingon was standing on the upper arch of the Bridge, facing them with a phaser in his hand.

"Hey, hey!" Kirk stuttered, shocked that he was being aimed at, and even more shocked that it was by a _Klingon _wearing a _Starfleet_ uniform. "Put that damn thing down!"

Everyone on the Bridge was now staring at them. Kirk recognized Riker from the holodeck; he was sitting on the lower level of the Bridge next to a bald man and a beautiful, dark-haired woman. The bald man, Kirk noticed, had four pins on his red shirt collar, no doubt signaling that he was the Captain.

If Kirk hadn't have been so confused, he would have burst out laughing—the looks on everyone's faces were hysterical, especially on Riker's.

"Hello. Again," Kirk said to Riker, trying to be friendly and trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the Bridge.

The bald man turned to look at Riker, his eyebrows furrowed with the same confusion Kirk and Spock were feeling. "Again?"

Riker still seemed to stunned for words—he just continued to stare at Kirk and Spock as if he hadn't even heard his captain's voice.

"We met Riker in what he called 'the holodeck'," Spock explained calmly.

"Only it wasn't a holodeck," Kirk said quickly. "We were on Earth. In Iowa, to be precise."

"Captain," the white-skinned man said suddenly, "They are registering as true life-forms. Definitely not holographic projections." Kirk realized that the man was holding what looked to him to be a simplified tricorder and was scanning them with it.

The bald man looked at the beautiful woman standing next to him, but she did not return his gaze. Her large black eyes were set on Kirk, as if reading his mind.

"Counselor."

The woman nodded. "I definitely feel emotions, Captain. From Captain Ki—from this one, more so than the other. They are present, though. Just harder to find. If I had to put a word on both of them, I would say disoriented."

"Hell yeah I'm disoriented," Kirk muttered. "Here you are reading my mind, when you could just ask me how I'm feeling! And you—" he pointed at the white-skinned man, "Talking about me like I'm not even here. Where're you manners?"

The man cocked his head. "I am sorry, sir. It was not my intention to offend. I was simply meaning to follow protocol, and inform Captain Picard of all the available information we have about you. If you wish, I could relay to you any of the number of 'manners' that I was programmed to imitate. For example, I have often noticed that—"

"Data," the bald man said, cutting off the former's speech.

Spock and Kirk looked at each other, and Spock even proceeded to raise his eyebrows, no doubt fascinated by this—this _thing_ referred to as 'Data'. What kind of creature was it? It didn't sound like a man, and something—something about it didn't act like a man. Not to mention the white skin, the gold eyes, the rigidity, the precision.

And then there was the _Klingon!_ Kirk couldn't help himself from automatically feeling anger and betrayal rise in his chest. Why would Starfleet allow a Klingon to serve onboard a starship? The Klingons couldn't be trusted; they had no desire for peace. They were, overall, just an evil race, he thought.

"Lieutenant," Picard said, turning to face the Klingon, "take them to…take them to the brig for the time being." He tapped the communicator on his chest. "Crusher to brig for medical examination."

"_On my way, Captain."_

"The brig?" Kirk said in surprise. "For what? We haven't done anything wrong."

"Forgive me, Captain," Picard said, a small smile playing on his lips. "I'm sure you would've taken the same safety precautions. Until our doctor examines you, we have no way of knowing if you are an extraterrestrial threat to us…or if you are, indeed, as you appear."


	4. Chapter 4

"There's no doubt about it, Captain. They're real. We have onboard the _Enterprise _Captain Kirk and Commander Spock."

"The real deal, huh?" Geordi couldn't help but chuckle at the situation.

"According to all my tests, yes," Crusher said with a slow nod. "Kirk's blood type matches exactly what they show of him in Starfleet medical records. As do Spock's—even his inherited genes are exactly as they should be, which would be a very difficult thing to imitate. Human and Vulcan DNA don't blend together easily."

Picard didn't know exactly how to proceed. He hesitated a second before turning to Riker. "Number One, tell me again what happened on the holodeck."

Riker nodded. "I was on the holodeck with Ensign Sarah Martin. We'd programmed it to be Earth, Rockford, Maine, nineteenth century. We were just there talking, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, they show up. Spock said that they were supposed to be in Iowa, in the twenty-third century—it'd make sense; that's the era that they're from. Then Data called me to the Bridge, and the rest is history."

Picard smirked. "Indeed. But it is incorrect history. I'm open to theories, anyone."

He scanned the faces of his officers—Geordi, Troi, Crusher, Riker, Data, Worf. They all looked as confused as he felt.

"Captain," Worf said, his gruff voice filling the room, "I cannot accept that this is Captain Kirk and Commander Spock. They appear much too young—"

"They are young, Worf," Crusher clarified. "According to my readings, Kirk is thirty-four and Spock is thirty-six."

"So, that would be what, fifty years ago?" Geordi asked. "It's strange enough that they appear in our holodeck—how could they only be in their thirties?"

"Captain," Data said, "I believe it would be wise to ascertain what has become of the Kirk and Spock in our own time. I do not believe it would be a pleasant experience if they were to discover that their younger selves are now once again in existence."

Troi spoke up. "You mean you think whatever brought them here may have…_eliminated_ their true selves that exist in our time?"

"I think it is a viable possibly, Counselor," Data admitted. "However, I advise we use caution while doing this research."

Picard nodded. "Agreed, Data. Even if we don't find anything, it won't hurt to look. Perhaps there's something in their past that could give us a clue to what's happening now."

"What are we going to do with them?" Worf asked. "They cannot remain on the _Enterprise_."

"And we can't just drop them off at the next Starbase we come to," Crusher said. "God only knows how many tests would be run on them."

Riker nodded. "We'll have to keep them around for a little while, until we can figure out exactly what they are, and how they got here."

"We must keep in mind," Picard said, "that we cannot discuss this with anyone off the _Enterprise_. I'm sure there are races that would love the opportunity to take a whack at either of those two, and we don't want to get in the middle of it."

"And, with their young age, there are probably some races that know them, but they haven't yet come into contact with," Troi noted. "That would be very hard to explain, both to them and to the alien race."

Picard nodded. "Then it's settled. We'll see what's become of the Kirk and Spock of our time, and we'll keep this absolutely confidential." He stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think it would be only courteous to give our honored guests some decent quarters."

"This is ridiculous," Kirk said with a scowl as he paced the floor of the cell. "Throwing us in the brig…and for what? _Existing_."

"I believe there is more to it than that, Jim," Spock said. He was standing in the corner facing Kirk, his hands clasped behind his back. "Captain Picard is correct; you would have taken the same precautions until you were aware of the entire gravity of the situation."

Kirk threw himself on to the bed, which was really more of a bench, with a sigh. "Well, I'm glad you're so calm." Kirk looked up at Spock. "How do you think we got here?"

"If I knew that, Captain, I assure you that I would already have already begun to formulate a plan to get us back to where we belong."

"Maybe it was something in the water," Kirk suggested. "Maybe…somehow…something happened that launched us into the future."

"Not likely. There have been no documented cases as such on Earth, ever. It is not plausible to think that they would start now."

"Then maybe they brought us here."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "They?"

"Yeah, they. The people here. Picard. Riker. Data. Maybe they brought us here. I don't know how it'd be possible, but unless you've got a better idea—"

"Captain Kirk."

Kirk and Spock looked up. Captain Picard was approaching them. As he reached for the force field control panel, he smiled apologetically. "My apologies once again, Captain. Now that I know you're not a threat to my crew, allow me to assign you to some quarters."

When Kirk stepped out of the cell, Picard reached out a hand. Kirk took it, though somewhat unenthusiastically. "I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard," the bald man said, a warm smile still on his face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir."

When Spock stepped out, Picard looked at him and raised his hand in a Vulcan salute. "Mister Spock," he said respectfully, bowing his head.

"Captain Picard," Spock said calmly, returning the salute and the bow.

Picard motioned for them to follow him out of the room, which Spock and Kirk were both eager to do. When they were in the hallway, Picard smiled apologetically at Kirk once again.

"I'm sure that this isn't something you want to talk about," he sad, "but I need to hear it one more time—how did you end up on my ship?"

"Funny, I could ask you the same thing," Kirk said, only half joking. This _Enterprise_, even though so different, was still so familiar to him.

Spock frowned inwardly. Jim had no logical reason to say such a thing. This ship, although similar to the _Enterprise_ that they hailed from, was obviously not one and the same. The technology, Spock had noticed, was far more advanced. He was no longer the only alien crewmember—there was a Klingon, and whatever race Data called himself.

"Captain," Spock said, and raised his eyebrows in faint amusement when both Kirk and Picard turned to him and asked, "Yes?"

"Captain Picard," Spock clarified, not catching Kirk's eye, "I am at a loss to understand why there are so many races represented on this vessel."

"Ah, good question," Picard said as he led them down the corridor. "You're right, Mister Spock, we do have many a race represented here. Why, you've already seen five represented here—Counselor Troi, who is half Betazed, Lieutenant Worf, a Klingon, Data, an android, myself, a human, and you, a Vulcan."

"Are there no other Vulcans on this ship?" Kirk asked.

"No," Picard answered. "We have several Vulcan officers." He smiled at Spock. "But you are still the only half-Vulcan in Starfleet, Mister Spock."

Spock, as Kirk had expected, didn't seem happy or sad about the news. Picard didn't seem phased by his lack of response, either—since he apparently knew so much about them already, he had probably been expecting it.


	5. Chapter 5

Kirk knew shortly after being assigned to his new quarters that this _Enterprise_ was going to take some getting used to. After getting a tour of the ship by Captain Picard himself, Kirk had realized how tired he was. But he wasn't ready to sleep just yet—and, besides, after all the excitement that had happened to him in this one day, he wasn't sure if he could sleep, anyway. He approached what Picard had called the 'replicator' and said, "Irish Coffee."

He was surprised when a computerized voice answered him. "At what temperature?"

Kirk crinkled his eyebrows. "I don't know what exact temperature…warm."

In a matter of seconds, a black mug had appeared in the open area of the replicator and the smell of coffee reached Kirk's nose. Kirk smiled in satisfaction as he picked up the warm mug, then he sat down and closed his eyes.

Spock could instantly tell that someone was watching him. He turned around, and brown eyes met gold.

"I am sorry," the android said. "It was not my intention to startle you."

Spock cocked his head. "You did not."

He turned his attention back to the task at hand—reading up on the current ship he was on, its past assignments, basic crew biographies, new planets that had been discovered, new races, technological advances—it was fascinating.

"I wanted to offer my assistance," Data told him, apparently not phased that Spock had turned his back on him. "If you discover that you have questions that the ship's library cannot answer, I have been programmed with a wide variety of information that you may find useful."

Spock turned around to face him. "Thank you," he said flatly.

The android didn't leave. Spock stared at him quizzically. "Do you require something further?"

"I was attempting to ascertain your authenticity," Data answered. "As of yet, I do not require your assistance."

"I assure you, I am as _authentic _as yourself."

"Do you have any theories on how you came to arrive on the _Enterprise_?" Data asked.

Spock turned to face him. "None at present."

Data nodded and, to Spock's surprise, sat down beside him. "I shall research any similar anomalies that have been documented in the last several hundred years."

He began typing onto the keypad, his fingers moving so fast that they were a blur. Spock barely had time to mask the impressed expression on his face before Data said "No cases involving time travel through water have been documented. I shall broaden my search."

Spock watched the computer screen in amazement. Text was scrolling and pictures were flashing at an unbelievable rate. He'd never seen anything like it.

Data furrowed his eyebrows and twitched his head. "I found no worthy incidents," he reported. "It appears that most incidents of time-travel were purposeful."

Spock nodded. "I appreciate your assistant," he told the android. What would have taken him, a Vulcan, hours to do, Data had completed in a matter of mere moments.

"You are welcome," Data said. He stood. If you will excuse me, I am due for the night watch." He pivoted, getting ready to exit, and then turned back to Spock. "Commander, I have read that you are a most adequate chess player. Perhaps we could join for a game sometime?"

Spock nodded. "Very well."

Spock sighed when he heard the lab's doors swish open again, at 0300 hours. He turned, expecting to see Data again, and was pleasantly surprised to see Jim come into the room.

"Captain?" he said, his voice betraying his surprise. "Why are you here?"

Jim smirked at him. He pointed at the door with his thumb. "Well, I can leave if you don't want me here."

"My apologies, sir. I was not meaning to imply that your presence was not welcome. I was simply not expecting to see you at such a late hour."

"You mean early hour," Kirk said, the smirk still playing along his lips. He sat down next to Spock. "I couldn't sleep."

Spock nodded. "I seemed to have the same difficulty. I have been researching our phenomenon for the past five hours."

"And?"

"And, so far, I have found nothing helpful. Data was correct; all documented instances of time travel have not involved water or have been intentional."

"Data? The robot? He was helping you?"

"He is an android, sir, not a robot. And yes, he was assisting me."

Kirk had a hurt look in his eyes. "Why didn't you ask _me_ to help you?"

"I did not ask anyone to help me, Jim. Data came and offered his assistance. He was able to get through a much larger amount of information in a shorter time than both you and I would have been capable of."

"Still…"

Spock decided to change the subject. "May I inquire into your night's activities?"

Kirk shrugged. "Well, I certainly haven't been using my time wisely, like you have. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary."

"Quite true. Vulcans do tend to effectively use their time and resources, something I have noticed that you humans have not yet mastered. I believe the term is 'procrastination'."

Kirk smiled. "Yes, I am very familiar with the term myself. I was quite the procrastinator in my younger days. Still am." He leaned back as far as his chair would let him and swiveled around to totally face Spock. "Well, Spock?" He didn't pause. "How are we going to get out of this mess?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again to everyone that has been reviewing, and reading, this story; I really appreciate the encouragement! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, for two reasons. One, it's long, and I like long chapters haha, and two, there are so many characters involved. Kirk and Spock, of course, Picard a little bit, Geordi a little bit, some Data, a dash of Troi, and a lot of Riker. Riker uses a tricorder! I can't remember any episode when I saw him use one...I'm sure it exists, but I just can't think of it right now haha. So, I kind of know where I'm going to go with this, but I would be open to suggestions/requests/whatever, just let me know. Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

"Commander Spock and I have already checked the holodeck simulations for both Maine and Iowa. We found no peculiar readings in either setting."

"Not surprising," Geordi said. "I mean, it _is_ just the holodeck. People from the past don't usually walk out of it."

"That is correct, Geordi," Data agreed. "However, it seemed a viable place to examine, since that is exactly what happened."

Picard nodded. "Data, keep me posted. I want to know the smallest thing you and Spock find that could possibly be related to this. Dismissed."

As the senior officers stood to leave, Picard said, "Oh, Counselor, could I have a word with you?"

Troi came back to the table and sat down. Picard waited until they were alone in the room, and then he said, "Counselor, I was curious to how everyone on my ship is reacting to this phenomenon."

Troi gave him a small smile. "Well, of course, no one on board really understands what's going on. They're as confused as Captain Kirk and Mister Spock." Her smile widened. "As a matter of fact, I've gotten quite a few new patients over the past few days. All of them are admitting to having hallucinations of _the _Kirk or Spock being onboard the _Enterprise_."

Picard chuckled. "And how are the two of them taking this?"

Troi shrugged and laced her fingers together. "I suppose they're doing as well as can be expected. Spock is adapting quicker than Kirk, but he is also interacting more with the crew. Which is surprising, given what we know about their personalities. Kirk is more outgoing, humorous, laid-back, and Spock is, true to his Vulcan heritage, stern, logical, and quiet."

"I haven't seen Spock do much socializing," Picard said. "He's mostly been doing research or experiments with Data."

"Vulcans don't socialize like us humans do," Troi explained. "Sitting at a computer terminal with Data is the human equivalent to attending a concert together." Her expression changed from light-hearted to serious. "Captain, I really do think that Kirk could use some…unconventional means of therapy."

Picard furrowed his eyebrows. "Explain."

"Well…" it was clear that Troi didn't know how to explain, exactly, what it was that she wanted to say. "I just think that…well…" She locked eyes with Picard and boldly launched into her theory. "He has gone four days now watching someone else command the ship that he still feels is his, even with the advances compared to the one he is used to."

"What are you suggesting, Counselor?"

"Oh, I don't know," Troi said with a shrug. "Maybe if you became a bit more involved with him…it's not like the two of you don't have anything in common. And…maybe…I don't know…give him some Bridge time?"

Picard raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Captain, he is a very able commander," Troi quickly defended herself. "Since we have no idea how long he and Spock are going to be on the _Enterprise_¸ we should at least do all that we can to make their time bearable."

"You want me to let James Kirk command my ship?"

"Not _command_ your ship, exactly. Just…maybe give a few orders? Consult him on the ship's daily activities? Ask his opinion before you take action on minor projects?"

Picard shook his head. "Counselor, I know you are saying these things out of kindness and concern. I will _consider_ it. You're correct; he and I do have much in common. I can imagine how I would feel sitting on the sidelines."

Troi smiled at him. "Thank you, Sir."

Riker sighed inwardly. He had just discovered that Kirk and Spock—the older ones—were, indeed, still alive and well. Whatever sent their younger selves to the future didn't dispose of the real ones. That added a new complexity to the situation. Should they contact Kirk and Spock and tell them that they are now alive in two generations?

"That wouldn't work," Riker said aloud. "There's nothing they could tell us that we couldn't find out on our own; there's no need to get them worked up over this." Then Riker realized what he should do. "Computer. Tell me the location of…Captain James Kirk."

The computer didn't respond immediately. Eventually it said, "Repeat inquiry."

"Where is Captain James Kirk?"

"Captain James Kirk is not onboard the _Enterprise_. Please consult Starfleet Directory for their location."

That's odd, Riker thought to himself. I'm surprised the computer can't pick up Kirk. He tapped his com badge.

"Riker to Data."

"Data here."

"Data, have you seen Kirk or Spock around recently?"

"Yes sir. Spock has been in the lab all day, and Captain Kirk was last seen on his way to the holodeck."

This surprised Riker. "The holodeck? To do what?"

"Unknown, sir."

"All right, Data. Thank you. Riker out."

Riker then left his quarters and headed for the holodeck where he had intended to go to all along, with or without Kirk. He made one stop first, in the costume room, and changed into a pair of khaki shorts, leather sandals, and a white T-shirt. Since Kirk and Spock had allegedly come out of the water in the holodeck, there was a chance that he'd be getting wet.

He entered Holodeck Four and was not at all surprised by what he saw. He stepped onto the former _Enterprise _Bridge. Kirk was sitting in the captain's chair, where he belonged. Spock was kneeling over the science station, but whether it was the real Spock or a holographic projection, Riker didn't know.

"Captain," Riker said, making everyone on the Bridge turn and look at him. "I was wondering if I might borrow you for a bit?"

Kirk smiled, and Riker could tell that it was forced. "Certainly, Commander. Mr. Spock, you watch the shop 'till I get back." Kirk got up and followed Riker into the turbolift. Riker waited until the doors had swished shut, and then said, "Computer, end program." He and Kirk then stood in a dark room, the walls, ceiling, and floor made up of black cubes. Riker looked over at Kirk. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind visiting Rockford with me."

"Not at all," Kirk said coolly, though it was clear that he had no desire at all to do such a thing. "But may I ask why you need me?"

Riker glared at him, annoyed at his less-than-willingness to help. "Because you were there." He pat his pocket. "I've got a tricorder so we can get some readings, and—"

"Haven't your people already done this? Data and LaForge, and that—that kid?"

"Wesley. They have missed something," Riker insisted. "It won't hurt to check again. What else would you be doing, playing make-believe?"

Riker regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. "Kirk, I'm sorry. I can only imagine how weird this must be for you. But being on a fake representation of your ship isn't going to help you get back where you belong. All right?"

"Fine," Kirk said. "Fine. The sooner I get back, the better."

Riker nodded. "Computer. The forest of Rockford, Maine. Nineteenth century." Trees appeared all around them, as did brush, rocks, and artificial sunlight. "Run program."

Spock was in their room waiting for him when Kirk got back. "Captain," he said with a nod, and Kirk could tell that Spock was pleased to see him.

"Hi, Spock."

"Are you free for the reminder of the evening, sir?"

Kirk looked at Spock, a little bit surprised. "I plan to be. Why, what have you got in mind?"

Spock turned and motioned for Kirk to follow them into the living area of their assigned quarters. On the coffee table, there was a virtual chessboard.

"Data assisted me in having it replicated," Spock explained. "If you are not busy at present—"

Kirk smiled and chuckled. "I get it, Spock," he said through his grin. He looked at his Vulcan friend. "You _miss _me."

Spock raised an eyebrow. No doubt he didn't want Kirk to go any further with that assumption, or else he would be forced to admit something his Vulcan half wouldn't easily allow him to. But, Kirk noted with a smirk, Spock never did deny it.

"It's funny," Kirk started, "that we're staying in the same quarters, yet we never see each other." He sat down in a chair by the chessboard.

"It is not surprising though," Spock added as he sat down opposite of Kirk. "We have each been assessing the situation in our own way."

Kirk shrugged as he leaned forward and moved his first pawn. "I guess so. Riker drug me to the Holodeck with him."

Spock raised an eyebrow as he took his first turn. "Oh? What did he expect to find there?"

"Beats me. We went back to the lake that you and I came out of, and Riker used his tricorder to scan the water and the air and didn't find anything. He even went underwater to make sure that the passage wasn't there. He asked the computer if there'd been any anomalies in the past few days, asked if anything like this has ever happened before. We didn't learn anything."

"I believe that others have already performed all those tasks," Spock said. "Data and I researched any past documentation of the occurrence and none such existed. I believe members of the Engineering staff analyzed the holodeck immediately after we were discovered."

"I figured as such. I told Riker that his people had already snooped around, but he _insisted _that we go anyway.

"On my way back here," Kirk continued, "I ran into Counselor Troi." He took his next turn.

Spock moved his piece instantly and glanced up at Kirk. "The Betazoid?"

"I guess she's half-Betazoid actually. Anyway, she coerced me into going and talking to her tomorrow. She took me aside and told me that she's been feeling a lot of tension coming from me and that it would do me good to talk about it." Kirk took his turn. Spock, looking across the board at him, could tell that his captain was, indeed, tense. "It creeps me out, her being able to read my thoughts."

"I don't believe she can read your thoughts, Jim. I believe Counselor Troi's ability only lies in detecting the emotions of others."

"Lucky for you."

Spock had been reaching for his knight, but when Kirk said that, his hand paused in mid-air. "No, sir," he said, totally serious, as he lowered his hand to the board. "It is not lucky. Vulcans spend their whole life being trained in the art of mastering emotions; we do not enjoy being subjected to a species that can hone in on what it is that we have spent our whole lives trying to suppress."

Kirk nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess that would be something Vulcans would try to avoid. Especially you, being half-human."

Spock frowned. "Thank you for reminding me."


	7. Chapter 7

At o-one-hundred hours, the door on Counselor Troi's quarters buzzed. "Come in, she called," and, as expected, James Kirk strolled in the room. She smiled at him. "Captain."

"Counselor," he said with a curt nod. "You wanted to see me?"

"Please, sit down," she told him and motioned to a large chair across from her. "Make yourself…" she paused, realizing what she had been about to say. "Make yourself comfortable," she finished.

Kirk gave her what she knew was a forced grin. "I can't make myself at home, can I? It seems I'll have to live with being 'comfortable' for the time being."

"We're doing everything we can," Troi told him, keeping her voice level. "I understand that holds little reassurance for you, but, right now, it's the best we can do. Geordi and Wesley have been running diagnostic after diagnostic on the holodeck, and Data has studied anything and everything that could be even remotely similar to what happened to the two of you."

Kirk chuckled at the mention of the android. "I feel like Data is trying to steal Spock away from me," he said, smiling at Troi.

She laughed. "Data is intrigued by him. Spock is part human and hates himself for it, and Data only wishes that he could be human, and it's that difference that makes Data want to find out more about him. And, of course, Data is a good-natured individual; he wants to help you two as much as he can."

"Good-natured?" Kirk repeated, raising his eyebrows. "How can a _machine _be good-natured? Does he—does he have a 'good-naturing' program, or—or download?"

"Data, as you may have noticed, is no ordinary machine. He—"

"He is an ordinary machine!" Kirk argued. "He's made up of wires and metal scraps. The thing probably even has an off-switch! Why would Starfleet let such a thing be on one of their vessels in the first place, much less be third in command?"

Troi took in a slow, heavy breath. "Data is at no more of a risk than 'shutting down' than you and I, Captain. Yes, it is true that Data has an off-switch, but he will also go on functioning as long as is possible, whereas you and I will eventually grow old and die. Data cannot get sick. He cannot die of grief. And the qualities he has brought to this ship far outweigh the few risks that are associated with him and not us."

"What do you mean he can't get sick? Can't he get a virus? Overheated?"

"He is more sophisticated than you realize," Troi explained. "He runs self-diagnostics daily. If he finds any anomalies, he goes to Engineering and they take care of him."

Kirk shook his head, upset that he wasn't able to appreciate Data like Counselor Troi and the other members of the _Enterprise_, and even Spock, were. Sophisticated or not, Data was still just a machine…and then there was the Klingon. "What about the Klingon?" Kirk asked.

"Worf?"

"Sure. Worf. What's his story?"

Troi sighed. "It's hardly a story," she said. "He is, obviously, a Klingon; however, he was adopted and raised by human parents on the planet Gault. They tried to keep him in touch with his true heritage, so he is now, in essence, both Klingon and human."

Kirk scoffed. "There's no such thing," he said. "The Klingons are an awful race, full or liars, cheaters, and murderers."

"Well, you have obviously never spoken with Worf. The man is—"

"Man? That thing is not a man. Klingons are _animals. _How can the Federation even accept them? Didn't they realize what a mistake they were making?"

"The Klingons are not the same race they were in your day," Troi said, and Kirk could tell that she was getting flustered. "Yes, some of their basic instincts are still the same, but they have proved most honorable in molding themselves to the Federation's rules and regulations."

"I'm sure they're plotting something," Kirk said bitterly. "You can't trust them, Counselor. That's how they work. They make you think that they're going to help you, that they're on your side, and then, when your guard is down, they strike."

Troi laughed despite Kirk's seriousness. When he glared at her, she said, through giggles, "I'm—I'm sorry! It's just—what do you think he's going to do? He's _one _man! It's not like he can take over the ship by himself! There is only one person on board that could do that, and it's not Worf."

"Then who?"

She smirked. "I don't think it would be wise to tell you when you are this emotional, Sir," she said, pretending to be apologetic. "I'm sure you, as a ship's captain, will understand."

"I'm sure Captain Picard is at least aware of it, then?"

"Of course!" Troi said, and snickered. "Of course he does. All the Bridge officers know." She glanced at the computer on the wall, then stood. "Well, Captain, I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but I do have another appointment in a few moments."

"Good," Kirk said and stood as well. "I don't think we should be in a rush to do this again anytime soon, Counselor."

She nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

After Kirk left, Troi barely had time to get herself a glass of hot chocolate and sit down again before the buzzer on her door rang. "Come in," she said.

As she had expected, Spock entered the room.

"Irish Coffee. Double the kick."

Kirk didn't have to wait long for his drink to arrive. He held the steaming mug in his hands, but he didn't yet take a drink of it. Instead, he sat and enjoyed the feeling of the heat flowing from the cup into his palms. He ran over his meeting with Counselor Troi again and again in his mind. He hadn't meant to be so short with her; it had just—happened. He just couldn't understand why the Federation would even allow Klingons, much less let them join Starfleet. And then there was the robot…sophisticated or not, he was a machine!

"Excuse me, Sir. Is this seat vacant?"

Kirk slowly turned his eyes to land on the source of the soft, innocent voice. Data stood next to him with wide eyes that reminded Kirk of a child.

Kirk chuckled. "Speak of the devil. Yes, it's vacant."

Data sat down stiffly and looked at Kirk, confused. "Which 'devil' would you like to speak of?"

"No, no, it's a figure of speech," Kirk explained. "I was just thinking about you when you asked me if you could sit here."

"Ah," Data said. "And how does this make me a 'devil'?"

"It doesn't!" Kirk said, rolling his eyes. "Like I said, it's a figure of speech!"

Data furrowed his eyebrows, and it was obvious to Kirk that the android still didn't understand. "May I ask what you were thinking about me, Sir?"

Kirk pushed his mug away and turned to face Data. "I was wondering why Starfleet allowed you to join."

Data cocked his head. "Sir?"

"You heard me. Why'd they let you join? Maybe you can explain it to me."

Data still looked confused. "I had all the proper qualifications," he answered. "I passed my written tests and my skills tests. I was able to successfully complete all simulations. I graduated Starfleet Academy with Honors, Sir."

"False honors," Kirk spat. "You read something, and you can't help but memorize it, can you?"

"No. However, I could delete it from my memory banks if I so desired."

"Right. So all these students sitting here slaving away for hours on end, trying to be the best that they can be, and you come and just—just _read_ something and know it inside and out! Does that seem fair to you?"

At first Data didn't respond; he seemed to be at a loss for words. "I cannot help the way I was programmed."

"How many of you are there?" Kirk asked as he reached for his mug. "Are they all exactly like you? Mass produced machines?"

"There is one other. And no, Sir. He is not exactly like me. In fact, he is not at all like me. He is my brother, Lore. He—"

Kirk snorted into his drink. "Your _brother_?"

Data raised his eyebrows. "Yes," he said simply.

"You're a machine. Excuse me, an android. You're not related to anything."

Data cocked his head again. "Sir, Lore and I were both built by Doctor Noonien Soong. I believe this is sufficient reason to call oneself related to another. Lore and I share several of the same components, such as our neural processing modulator, our internal heating regulator, and the compound for our synthetic skin. To us, that is no different than you and a family member sharing a same DNA pattern."

"Well, I beg to differ."

Data raised his eyebrows again. "You may differ all you wish, Sir. I cannot make you agree with me. Nor would I desire to. I have noted that humans appreciate their own distinct views. I would not want to be the cause for yours to end."

The thoughtfulness put a brake on Kirk's interrogation for a few seconds. "What makes this Lore so different than you?" he finally asked. "If you're both programmed the same way, how is he different?"

"We are not programmed in the exact same way. There are differences between us, some major and some minor. For example, he has an emotion chip and I do not. He contains—"

"Wait, wait," Kirk interrupted. "What's an emotion chip?"

Data leaned forward, closer to Kirk. "It is exactly what it sounds like, Sir. Lore is able to experience and act upon emotion. I am not."

Kirk didn't know how to react, again. "You…You can't feel emotion?"

"No, I cannot."

"Nothing? Happiness? Sadness? Anger? Nothing?"

Data shook his head. "Nothing."

"So you never get scared or—or excited?"

"I never 'get' anything," Data replied. "Nor do I ever feel anything. However, my brother can, and he acted upon these emotions. Sometimes I wonder how he would have been if he, like me, did not possess an emotion chip."

"He'd probably be pretty boring," Kirk said. "No offense."

"I did not take any. And, while he might be boring, I still think—that that would be beneficial."

"What? You don't like him having emotions? Are you jealous of him?"

"I do not believe I can feel jealousy, Sir. I simply meant to imply that there is a high probability that Lore would not have done what he did had he not possessed an emotion chip."

Kirk's eyes met Data's. "What did he do?"

Data opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off. _"LaForge to Data."_

Data tapped the communicator pinned on his chest. "Data here."

"_Data, I was wondering if you were free for a bit? I've got some ideas I need to talk to you about something."_

"I am available. Would you like me to meet you in Engineering?"

"No, I've been in here since 0500 hours trying to figure this damn thing out. How about Ten Forward in ten minutes?" "I am in Ten Forward at present," Data said. "I will wait for you here. Data out." He tapped the badge on his shirt again and the communication ended.

"Well, I guess I'll go and leave you two to figure things out, or whatever," Kirk said and stood. He reached for his Irish Coffee and finished it in one big swallow. "It was nice talking to you, Mr. Data. I can see why Spock spends so much time with you."

"And why is that, Sir?"

Kirk smiled. "Because you're just like him. Have a good night, Data."

"You too, Sir," Data said as Kirk turned and left Ten Forward. It wasn't long until Geordi arrived.

"Hi Data," he said as he sat down next to his friend and ordered a tall glass of orange juice. He took a long sip as soon as it was brought to him. As he set his glass down, he sighed. "No matter what, they just can't get the taste right. Nothing beats a cold glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice."

Data cocked his head. "Is this what you wanted to discuss with me, Geordi? I will forewarn you; I do not have much to offer on the subject of the taste of an orange-derived beverage."

Geordi laughed and turned to face the android. "No, Data. I'm really at a loss for this whole situation. Wes and I have run every diagnostic we can think of on the Holodeck. We've gone over every single square inch of the circuitry and still can't find anything wrong with it. You and Spock have researched this upside down and inside out. What could we possibly be missing?"

Data shrugged. "I do not know. I feel that we have exhausted all possible explanations within our capacity for deduction."

"_Exactly_," Geordi said. "We have. We've done everything that we can do, and we still came up with nothing. We're either missing something—something big—or there's nothing else to find."

"I believe it would be wise to continue as if we are not missing anything," Data admitted. "I do not believe that we all could miss the same large piece of information, nor that our computers could miss it. It must be something outside of 'technical error'."

"Good, that's what I thought too," Geordi said. He took another drink of his orange juice. "Now—how do we tell the captain?"


	8. Chapter 8

"Nothing? How can there be nothing?"

"We ran diagnostics on the Holodeck computer five times," Geordi said, directing his answer to Commander Riker. "The results were the exact same each and every time. Nothing was wrong. Nothing at all. Wes and I practically stripped the computer down to its wires, and we still found nothing." He stopped to let the senior officers process the information, then he said, "I think it's time we start looking at other avenues."

"What kinds of other avenues?" Doctor Crusher asked.

Geordi shrugged. "I don't know for sure. Alien interference, divine interference, I don't know. Kirk and Spock could be lying about this for all we know."

"I don't think that's a possibility, Geordi," Troi said. "I feel that Kirk is as unhappy to be here as he could possibly be. If this was planned, I think he would be a bit more relaxed about it."

Riker nodded. "There's no reason for them to lie, either. This whole thing just doesn't make sense. What if they, in their present, came to our present, wouldn't this have already happened before? I mean, we would've already been through this."

"Regardless of whether we've already been through this or not," Picard spoke up, "and regardless of whether it was an alien, their dishonesty, or God Himself, we still don't even know what to do with them. Starfleet does not have instructions on what to do if former members are launched into the future."

"I still think we have to keep them on board," Crusher said. "We can't take them to a Starbase, we can't drop them off at a planet, what choice do we have?"

"They cannot remain here!" Worf argued. "We cannot simply treat them as permanent 'guests'. If the Federation ever discovers them, _we_ will be the ones that are punished."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"Doctor, Mr. Worf," Picard said. "Please." He looked at Data. "Data, theories. I don't care how improbable they sound, give them all to me."

"Wakey, wakey, Mr. Flakey."

Spock's eyes shot open. He instinctively threw the covers off his body and said in a gruff, still sleepy voice, "Computer, lights to one-hundred percent!"

His eyes focused immediately to the new level of brightness in his room, and they laid on Kirk. His captain was standing next to his bed, wearing a red and black commander's uniform like the one both Picard and Riker wore.

"Captain?" Spock asked groggily, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. He squinted at Kirk. "Where did you get that uniform?"

"Isn't it great?" Kirk said, his eyes shining with mad excitement. He sat on the bed next to Spock and stretched his arms out in front of him, looking at the cloth that covered them. "A perfect uniform for a perfect commander."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Perfect, Sir? While you are quite the able commander, you—"

"Aw, keep it to yourself, Vulcan," Kirk interrupted. He stood up again and began pacing around the room.

"Are you all right, Sir?" Spock asked, concern and curiosity in his voice. "You are not acting like yourself."

"Because I don't feel like myself," Kirk said as he stopped pacing. His back was facing Spock. "You know, I actually don't feel like Kirk at all. Enough of this!"

He turned around, and Spock felt his heart skip a beat when he saw that Kirk no longer stood before him—if he ever had at all, that is. The man that stood before him still appeared young, though not as young as Kirk, and had short brown hair and a pale face.

"Who are you?" Spock asked the stranger. He stood and became eye-level with him. "I do not believe I have encountered you before."

The man chuckled. "No, my dear Vulcan, you haven't. Trust me, if you'd met me, you would remember it. I'm always sure to leave a _lasting_ impression on those that have the pleasure of meeting me."

Spock cocked his head. "Would you care to introduce yourself, then?"

"No," said the stranger with a sly grin. "Not just yet, Mr. Spock. I'm sorry, it really was cruel and unnecessary of me to come in here and wake you up like this, but I was bored, excited, you name it, and I was it. Now," he approached Spock and held out his hand, "I think it's time for you to go back to bed."

Spock opened his eyes. He was being shaken gently by a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Spock?" He instantly recognized Kirk's voice. "Spock, wake up. Wake up."

Spock rolled over and locked eyes with his captain. "Jim?"

Kirk smiled. "Yeah, Spock. Who else would it be?"

Shaking his head, Spock sat up on the bed. "I—I don't know. I thought that—I suppose it was just a dream."

"What'd you dream about?"

Spock thought about his dream before answering. "You woke me up. You were wearing a uniform like Captain Picard and Commander Riker. You were acting—not like you. You called me 'Vulcan'. Then, all of a sudden, you became someone else entirely."

"Who?"

Spock furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "I cannot say. I had never seen him before, and he never told me his name."

"What did he look like?" Kirk asked.

"He was human. He had brown hair, pale skin. He was middle-aged." Spock shook his head again. "I asked him if he would introduce himself, and he said, 'not just yet'. Then he told me it was time to go back to bed, and then I woke up to you shaking me."

Kirk chuckled. "We were supposed to meet for breakfast at ten. I waited for you until ten-fifteen and figured you were a no-show."

"My apologies, Sir," Spock said as he stood up and rubbed his eyes. "Oversleeping is a rare occurrence for me."

"I know, that's why I was worried."

"If you would still like to go to breakfast, I can be ready shortly."

"Sounds good," Kirk said. "You get dressed, I'll wait for you in the hallway."

Spock walked over to his closet and flipped through his clothes, deciding on a black V-neck T-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. He changed quickly and slipped his boots on and then met Kirk in the hallway.

"I am ready, Captain."

"Good," Kirk said as they began walking down the hallway, side by side. "I'm starving. So, Spock, I feel like I hardly saw you at all yesterday. What'd you do all day?"

"I attempted to understand the workings of this vessel. While it is much more sophisticated than ours, the inner working is still the same. However, as you have noticed, they have many amenities that the former _Enterprise_ did not possess. How about you, Captain? How did your meeting with Counselor Troi go?"

Kirk snorted. "Let's just say I've had better counseling sessions."

"Sir?"

"I was a bit more…_vocal _than I should have been. Mostly all we did was talk about Data and Worf."

Spock raised an eyebrow in faint amusement. "Those are odd topics to discuss."

"Yeah, well, it seems I'm having a hard time accepting them as members of Starfleet. I mean, Worf's race has brought nothing but war and mourning to the Federation, and Data isn't even human."

"I am not human either, Sir."

Kirk rolled his eyes "I know that, Spock. But you're at least _real_. Data…he's nothing but wires and batteries."

"Regardless of what he is or is not, he was a great help when we were researching time travel. He was more than willing to offer his assistance."

They had reached Ten Forward. The tall oak doors swished open and Kirk and Spock stepped inside and began scanning the room for a vacant table. The room was surprisingly crowded, with several uniformed officers getting a late breakfast or very early lunch. Every table was taken; some had vacant seats, but Kirk and Spock would have to share the table either way.

"You gentlemen can sit here," said a woman's voice from behind them. "I don't bite."

Kirk and Spock turned around and saw a black middle-aged woman standing behind the counter, smiling at them. She was wearing a dark blue dress and a square-shaped hat to match.

"What can I get for you?" she asked as they sat down at the bar.

"Your biggest cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee," Kirk told the woman, smiling back at her.

"All right," she said with a nod. "And for you, Mr. Spock?"

"Miso soup and steamed rice, please."

"Sounds good," she said, then turned around and told the computer the order. When she turned around again, she had Kirk's cinnamon roll on a black stone plate and his coffee in a black stone cup. She put them down in front of him and turned back around to get Spock's order and gave it to him. "My name's Guinan," she told them as they took the first bites of their food. "Picard and I go way back; we've known each other a long time." Casually, she then said, "I hear you two are having quite the time getting adjusted here."

Kirk looked at her over his cup of coffee. After taking a long drink of it, he said, "Oh? Who'd you hear that from?"

She chuckled. "Who _haven't_ I heard it from is more like it," she admitted. "Honestly, I'm kind of the Bridge crew's go-to woman. A lot of things they don't feel comfortable talking to Counselor Troi about, not because they don't trust her, but just because they work side-by-side with her everyday, so I get to listen to a lot of their problems and worries. And right now, their problem is you."

Kirk smirked. "You certainly don't dumb things down, do you?"

"Nah, I don't believe in that. Sometimes people need to hear things straight up for it to do them any good. I wasn't meaning to imply that you're a _problem _problem. I just mean, you're what's on their minds right now. They're very concerned about you, whether you know it or not." She leaned forward. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Captain. That Bridge crew is made up of some of the best people I've ever known in my life. Not only are they experts in their fields, but they're _good people._" She smirked. "You picked a good ship to get stranded on." Guinan glanced over at Spock, who was quietly sipping his soup. "True to your reputation, you don't say much."

Spock looked at her over a spoonful of soup. "I have never seen the logic in making menial conversation just to appear sociable. If you wish to discuss something of relevance, though, I will input my opinion."

"Don't strain yourself," Guinan told him.

"Hey," Kirk scoffed, setting his coffee down on the counter. He glared at Guinan. "Give him a break, all right? It's just how he is."

Guinan raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Does he always stand up for you?" she asked Spock, who didn't reply.

"Stop it," Kirk said, his voice holding a hint of anger. "Just leave—"

"Jim." Spock interrupted. He put his hand on Kirk's arm. "It is quite all right."

"You two are on a first-name basis?" Guinan questioned.

"Yes, we are," Kirk answered. "We're best friends, what would you expect?"

Guinan looked at Spock. "Are you his best friend?"

"Lady, I just told you that we are!" Kirk snarled at her. "You don't have to go and ask him."

Guinan nodded. "Yeah, I heard you. But I want to hear him say it."

Spock cocked his head. "What purpose would that serve? Do you not believe Captain Kirk's statement?"

"I believe it," she said. "I want to see if you'll admit to it. Will you, a Vulcan, admit to having feelings towards another person?"

Spock that thought Kirk was going to argue with the woman again, but he remained silent, staring intently at Spock. No doubt Kirk was wondering, _will_ he admit it?

Spock's response wasn't totally surprising, but it was disappointing. He set his spoon down on the counter next to his half-empty soup bowl and untouched bowl of rice, and then he lifted himself off his barstool and walked out of the room. Kirk watched him go, stunned into silence.

When Kirk turned back to the counter, Guinan was looking at hi intently. "You wanna know another secret?" she asked him.

Kirk sighed. "Well, Guinan, I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway, so go ahead and get it out of your system now."

She laced her fingers together and leaned on the counter. "Data calls Geordi his best friend."

Kirk thought for a second, but he couldn't come to any reason that Guinan would want him to know that. "So?" he asked.

"So, he was talking to me last night. He said you didn't think that he should be allowed to be in Starfleet. And after what you just saw, I think I'd change my mind about that if I were you. Spock won't even admit to having feelings for you, and Data, who can't even _feel _feelings, still says that he's closer to Geordi than anyone else onboard."

"You did this on purpose," Kirk said, realization dawning on him. "You had us sit here so that you could be rude to Spock, and you did that just so you could make a point!"

Guinan shrugged. "Well, did it work?"

Kirk shook his head and stood. "Just because he won't admit to me being his best friend doesn't mean I'm not."

As he left, Guinan called, "Are you telling me that? Or are you trying to convince yourself?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, the mob has spoken, and it's a good thing, too--nearly everyone wanted the story to stay friendship, and I'm glad I found that out, because I was leaning on the slash side. But I can adjust my idea to fit along those lines, because, really, the slash idea that I was thinking of was nothing but extra drama/angst, that kind of thing, so it won't hurt the plot to take it out. That's what writers do, right, try to make everyone happy? Yeah right lol, that's what they _should_ do. Now, on to the much-awaited chapter nine! It's short, I know, but I wanted to make sure that I was back into the style of things before I wrote a huge chapter. I hope you like this!**

Jean-Luc Picard crossed his right leg over his left and set his chin on his clenched fist as he stared out of the Bridge view screen. _Now I understand_, he thought to himself, _why no one is ever eager to take the night watch. _He glanced at the other crewman on the Bridge and saw the bored expressions on their faces, the ones that surely matched his. Ensign Dolph, sitting at the left navigation post, yawned, and Picard couldn't help from doing so as well.

"Bored, Ensign?" Picard said, the hint of a smile in his voice. Ensign Dolph turned around and shook his head.

"No--No, Sir," he said, his cheeks were slightly tinged red. "I'm--I just--"

"It's quite all right, Ensign," Picard said. He straightened his legs and then crossed left over right. "I'm beginning to understand why Data is always assigned night watch."

Chuckles murmured throughout the Bridge. The reason that Data wasn't on the Bridge tonight was because he was in Engineering; since Wesley and Geordi had been so consumed with trying to figure out how Kirk and Spock suddenly appeared on his ship, they'd been neglecting the semi-annual diagnostic of the main computer. Data had volunteered to work around the clock to complete the work so that they could submit the report to Starfleet on time. Picard would normally have refused; he didn't want anyone on his crew, man or machine, to have to work such a grueling schedule, but he knew that he'd have to explain the situation to Starfleet if their results weren't turned in, and Picard wasn't going to tell them about Kirk and Spock. _Wait, _Picard thought, _Kirk…Kirk. That's it!_

He pressed the communication pin on his chest and called the one officer that he knew for sure would be awake, "Picard to Data."

The android's response was prompt. "Data here."

"Data, I need you to do something for me."

"Of course, Sir. What do you need?"

"I need you to go to Kirk's quarters. Tell him he's needed on the Bridge."

This time, Data didn't respond as promptly. "Captain," he said, almost tentatively, "it is o'three-hundred hours--"

"I'm aware of the time, Mr. Data."

"But Sir, do you think he will appreciate being woken up at this hour?"

"He's a Starfleet captain, Data," Picard stated. "He's used to it."

Kirk lurched in his bed when he heard someone ringing at his quarters. "What the hell--" he muttered as he pulled the covers off from his body and walked towards the door. When the door swung open, he saw Data standing outside, looking almost--apologetic.

Kirk sighed and rolled his eyes slightly. "Can I help you?" he asked the android.

"Good morning, Sir," Data said. "I was instructed by Captain Picard to bring you to the Bridge."

"The Bridge? At--what time is it? At four AM?"

"It is closer to three AM," Data informed him.

"Why the hell does he need me at three AM?"

Data furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head. "I did not ask him why, Sir."

Again, Kirk rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine," he said, then waved at Data to move. "Just stand out there while I put some clothes on."

He turned around and put on the most comfortable thing that he could find quickly, a pair of loose blue jeans, the flip flops he had worn to the lake with Spock, and a rustic-orange zip-up hoodie.

"This had better not be some sort of prank," Kirk told Data when they had left his quarters. "Because I can tell you right now, I won't be happy if it is."

"Captain Picard does not approve of pranks," Data said to him. "I find his involvement in one to be highly unlikely."

"Good," Kirk said sullenly. "At least there's one normal person on this ship." He stopped, sighed, and turned to face Data. "Data, sorry. I'm just really not a morning person."

"Captain Picard said that, as a Starfleet captain, you should be used to getting up at odd hours."

"Oh yeah? When did he say that?"

"After he told me to come and get you, I reminded him that it was o'three-hundred hours. That is when."

Kirk raised an eyebrow and looked at Data. "You reminded him of the time?"

Data nodded. "Yes. I thought that perhaps he was unaware of it, since he was sending me to retrieve you."

Kirk smirked and chuckled softly. "You didn't want to come wake me up?"

"No, Sir. I was under the impression that humans did not care to be woken up at such early hours. Was I in error?"

"Not at all. I just didn't think you'd be so considerate." He glanced at Data, as if searching for some show of emotion on the robot's face. "No offense."

"I cannot be offended, Sir," Data assured him. He stepped aside; they had reached the turbolift and Data obviously intended to let Kirk take himself the rest of the way to the Bridge.

"Wish me luck," Kirk told him as he stepped into the turbolift.

Data nodded. "Good luck, Sir."


	10. Chapter 10

When Kirk stepped out of the turbolift and on to the Bridge, Picard smiled at him. "Welcome to the Bridge, Captain."

Kirk frowned at him. "Did you need me for something?"

Picard nodded and stood up, pulling his shirt down as he did so. "Yes, I did." He paused and looked around at the Bridge officers, all of whom were punching things into their stations. "…Ensign, you have the Bridge."

Ensign Dolph turned and looked at Picard with wide eyes. "Me?"

"Well why not?" the captain asked, the grin never leaving his face. "I'll be in my ready room." He motioned for Kirk to follow him into a room located in the front corner of the Bridge. "Sit down, please," he said when they entered. Kirk sat down in the chair across from Picard's desk and Picard took the other.

Picard noticed that Kirk was staring at the fish tank in the corner of the room. "That," Picard said, "is a ne'oku. From Vulcan." He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkled. "Her name's Phoebe. My mother got her for me to take to the Academy with me. She was so worried that I'd be lonely, so she got me a fish." Picard nodded towards the tank. "She's about forty-five years old now."

Kirk chuckled. "A lot older than most normal fish, typical Vulcan fashion." He smirked. "Mine was a goldfish. My girlfriend got it for me before I left. Now, I'll be honest, I had no interest in the thing at all--it actually died my first week at the academy. I don't know what the problem was, I was feeding it, I changed the water…anyway, she came up to visit me, and I knew that I couldn't tell her I killed her fish. So I went out and bought another one, you know, they all look exactly alike, and she was none the wiser."

There was a beat of silence between them. Kirk broke it. "Can I ask you why you wanted to see me, Captain?"

Picard nodded. "Of course. I thought I'd offer you command of the _Enterprise_."

Kirk felt his mouth drop open before he could stop it, and Picard instantly continued, "Not--not _forever_, of course, but for the night watch. I know if I was in your shoes I'd be going insane watching someone else command."

Kirk chuckled. "The night watch, huh? You think I'm that bad?"

Picard smiled. "Quite the contrary, Sir. However, I don't want to take any chances. This ship has the wonderful tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time; it would only take a few minutes for a Romulan war bird to decloak and see James Tiberius Kirk on the Bridge, or for some Borg scouts to beam onboard and--"

"Borg?" Kirk interrupted. He raised his eyebrows. "What are the Borg?"

Picard stood. "You can read about them in the ship's library," he said pointedly. "Now, I am going to call Data to the Bridge. Any questions you have about operations--well, any questions you have about _anything_, you can ask him." He held out his hand, and Kirk stood and took it. "I'll relieve you at ten-hundred hours, Captain."

Kirk smiled. "Thank you."

Kirk followed Picard out of the room, and his smile broadened when Picard said to all the officers on the Bridge, "Captain Kirk will be in command for the remainder of the watch."

Kirk made his way to the Captain's chair as Picard moved towards the turbolift. He heard the older captain say "Picard to Data" before he stepped into the turbolift.

Kirk looked around at the officers, all of whom were staring back at him. He grinned. "Ensign," he said to Ensign Dolph, "What is our current position?"

Picard couldn't keep a straight face as he was returning to his quarters. He had done what Counselor Troi had requested, give Kirk Bridge time, and he had also managed to get out of most of the night watch. Picard had expected to feel uneasy about giving command over to Kirk, but with Data being on the Bridge with him, he didn't feel at all anxious. Data had said that he was just about finished with the computer diagnostic, and that he could go back to Engineering after the night watch had ended. Picard didn't argue.

He yawned when he stepped inside his quarters. He changed into his nightwear quickly and dimmed the lights, then lowered himself onto his bed.

He gasped in surprise and shot up when he realized that something--or someone--was laying on it. "Lights!" he barked.

The lights came back on, revealing the contents of Picard's room--and his bed.

He had to keep himself from groaning when he saw who was lying there--it was none other than Q, the omnipotent nuisance that, for some reason, was obsessed with the _Enterprise_, and with Picard. He was wearing a set of solid navy-blue pajamas and a smile.

Snidely, Picard said, "Welcome, Q. I was wondering when you were going to pay us another visit."

Q grinned and sat up on the bed. "Why thank you, Jean-Luc; it's so good to know that I was missed." He looked intently at Picard. "It seems I'm not the only guest on board."

"Well of course, if anyone would know about that, it would be you." Picard glared at Q. "You need to send them back."

"Send who where?"

"Q!" Picard shouted, frustrated. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"You know, I don't think I appreciate being blamed for everything that ever goes wrong on this ship," Q retorted. "Just because I _happen _to be in the wrong place at the wrong time doesn't mean I'm responsible."

"Yes it does," Picard argued. "You can be anywhere in the galaxy you want to be, yet when something goes wrong, you want to be here."

"I know," Q agreed, quite sarcastically, "what are the chances?"

"What do you want, Q? We've been through this enough times to know that you won't leave this ship in peace until we play your game. What is it this time? You're going to see how long we can keep them onboard? You want us to beam Kirk onto a Klingon ship and see how long it takes him to crack? What do you want?"

"Neither of those," Q answered. He smirked. "Though they are both very good ideas."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you to everyone that has been reading and reviewing; I really appreciate it. I like this chapter, mostly because Q is fun to play around with lol, but also because Crusher got some page time, and there was a cute moment between Kirk and Spock. Well, it's not between them, but it's about them, I guess lol. Read it and you'll get it. I still don't own Star Trek, just the idea for this story. Enjoy :)**

Picard folded his arms across his chest and glared at Q. "I can wait until you're ready to admit why you've brought them here, Q. I doubt it was for fun. You can destroy entire galaxies for fun; why would you choose to bring James Kirk and Spock here instead of doing that? You wouldn't. Not without good reason."

"Maybe I just wanted to see the shocked look on your face," Q retorted with a snide grin. He saw the look of surprise flash over Picard's face and continued, "Oh yes, Jean-Luc, I've been here the whole time watching. To be quite honest, I expected a more humorous response from your crew. Worf, particularly." Q stood up and began drumming his hands against his thighs. "You know me too well, Jean-Luc. You're right; I didn't bring them here for fun. Well, not _just_ for fun.

"You know I don't see eye-to-eye with the Continuum. I pull a side-splitting practical joke, and they think I've tortured an entire race."

"You often do," Picard said. "Your idea of 'fun' is not shared by most of the universe."

Q rolled his eyes. "As I was saying before being so _rudely _interrupted, my latest romp involved going to Uwaka VI and re-entering all the data in their computer logs…backwards."

"Uwaka VI?" Picard questioned. "I don't believe I'm familiar with the place."

Q shook his head. "No, you're not. They're a few galaxies down the road from you. Stop interrupting.

"Anyway, the people of Uwaka VI are…how do I say this without being rude…_stupid_. They are a hugely inferior race, even compared to you humans. They didn't realize that all they had to do was reverse the order that their data was being displayed to them. It took them nearly two weeks before they could get a distress call out."

Picard nodded slowly. "And…what happened during those two weeks, as a result of your childish actions?"

Q shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. The point is, it was two hilarious weeks for me."

Picard resisted the urge to sigh. He took a few steps to his left and sat down in his armchair and crossed his legs. "And?"

"Well, needless to say, the Continuum wasn't too happy with me, so they sent me to a tolerance seminar."

Picard leaned forward a little. "A tolerance seminar? What--"

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Q interrupted.

Picard grinned at him insincerely. "I surmised as much. I wanted to know what good the Continuum thought it would do to send you."

"Oh, how clever, Picard. _Anyway_, as you claim to have surmised, I spent three days learning how to be respectful of others and those different, and inferior, compared to myself. The final day of it, we were told that we had to observe an example of tolerance--you know, people from different races, different intelligence levels, different eras, etcetera, working together towards a common goal. So, rather than just go along with one criteria, I went along with several."

Picard nodded slowly as the realization dawned on him. "So…you now have participants from different eras, different races, and different intelligence levels…all working towards the same goal. To get Kirk and Spock back to their own time."

Q smirked. "You know Jean-Luc, you're not quite as foolish as you look. To bad that's not the case with all humans."

"You know, I distinctly remember you coming on my ship as a _human _when the Continuum stripped you of your powers. I don't think you have any right to talk about us in such a demeaning manner when you yourself could think of no better race to be turned in to."

Q crossed his arms as if he were a small child pouting. "_Touché, _Picard, _touché._"

"How long are you going to keep them here, Q?" Picard asked the entity. "How long do you have to observe this?"

Q shrugged lightly. "My paper's not due for three weeks."

"Q--"

"Relax, Jean-Luc. They've already been here nearly a week, just triple it and you'll have the remainder of the time."

"Yes, and knowing you, you'll enjoy seeing us walk on eggshells around each other so much that you'll decide to keep them here for another three weeks, then three months, then three years, Q! Enough of this foolishness. Tell me something that you want us to do, and give me your word that you'll return everything to normal after we do it."

Q frowned. "You can't expect me to think of something so extreme under pressure like this." When Picard didn't say anything sympathetic to him, Q sighed. "All right, all right. I want you--" he paused, no doubt for dramatic effect--"to get Mr. Spock to show three intense, authentic emotions."

Picard fought to keep his surprise--and annoyance--hidden from Q. "Any preference of what emotions they are?"

Q grinned widely. "No, my good sir, you can pick whichever you heart desires. Of course, run them by me first."

"Of course."

"And, Picard--don't whisper in Spock's ear, 'Oh, we need you to smile, so that we can get you off my ship', or, 'Will you _please_ act like you're upset so we can get rid of you?' I'll know if you do, Jean-Luc. And trust me--I don't take kindly to cheaters."

Q snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of bright white light.

"Doctor Crusher, Captain--Kirk--is here to see you."

Crusher looked up from her computer monitor at her head nurse. "I'll just be a minute, thank you."

Crusher noticed immediately that her pulse and breathing had quickened. Growing up, she had seen James T. Kirk on the news for his latest contact with a new species, for saving a planet from total domination, from finding the cure of a new disease. At the Academy, and in medical school, his name was mentioned in many of her classes. And now, she was treating him.

She stood up and brushed her fingers through her hair, then straightened her uniform and lab coat. She took a deep breath and walked to the waiting area, where she grabbed a medical kit and then saw Kirk sitting on an examination table.

"Good morning, Captain," she said kindly as she approached him. "What seems to be the problem today?"

She opened the kit and was preparing to take out a tricorder, but Kirk stopped her. "Actually, Doctor, I'm--I'm not here for myself."

Crusher raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it's actually for Spock. I, um, don't really know for sure what's wrong with him, but he hasn't been getting a lot of sleep the last few days, and he's had this constant headache. I'm sure it's from not sleeping, but…" he locked eyes with Crusher. "Look, could you just give me something for him? I know he's feeling awful, but he won't admit to it and he certainly won't come down here himself to get it taken care of."

"Why isn't he sleeping?" Crusher asked. "Is he stressed? Worried?" She smiled. "Is the bed too soft?"

Kirk chuckled. "Probably all of the above," he said. "You think he'd be stressed, but I'm not sure how stress would effect Vulcans. I got in late and Spock was up reading when I got back. He said he'd been awake all night."

"And you said it'd been going on for the last couple of days?"

Kirk nodded. "Yeah. Do you have anything for restless Vulcans?"

"I can give him a mixture of a relaxant and a sedative. Just make sure he takes it the night before a free day; hopefully it'll have him sleeping for a good ten to twelve hours. But, Captain, how sure are you that you can't get him in here himself to ask for it?"

"Come on, you know Spock. Well, you know _about_ Spock." He grinned playfully at her. "McCoy would do it."

Crusher couldn't help but laugh at the statement. "That's true, I suppose he would. All right, Captain. I'll help you." She walked over to the replicator and punched several things into the keypad. A vial of dark blue liquid materialized within seconds. She took it and handed it to Kirk.

"Put five drops of this into a liquid--tea, water, milk, wine, it doesn't matter--and have him drink it before he goes to bed. It'll put him to sleep almost instantly and, like I said, he'll be out for a while. This should last you for about week; hopefully that will be enough time for him to get back to his normal sleep patterns. If you can't get him to drink something every night without looking suspicious, come back and I'll give you something else to try."

"Great," Kirk told her. "Thank you, Doctor."

"My pleasure, Captain." She stood aside for him to stand up. "Have a good day, Sir."


	12. Chapter 12

**I LOVE this chapter! It's long, it's got funny parts, there's a ton of Kirk and Spock interaction, and then Riker and Picard are in it towards the end. What's going on with Spock? I don't know for sure yet haha, but I've got some ideas going. I'd really like to get 5 reviews on this chapter before I post thirteen, just so I can feel confident that people are still reading it and enjoying it. Is there a way to see how many people are reading the story? If I could know that, I wouldn't care so much about reviews, as long as people are reading and enjoying it, I'm happy :) **

Spock almost groaned when his door buzzed. He knew it was Kirk calling on him; it wasn't his main door ringing, it was the door connected to the commode that he and Kirk shared.

"Hey, Spock!" he heard his captain say. "You in there?"

Spock licked his dry lips and answered, "Yes, Captain. You may come in."

Kirk stepped inside Spock's room and the first thing he noticed was how dark it was. The only light came from two faux candles sitting atop Spock's dresser. Kirk could barely make out Spock laying on the bed, his arm slung over face, covering his eyes.

"Hey," Kirk said as moved towards the bed. He sat down on the bed next to Spock and put his hand on his friend's knee. "You okay?"

"I do not feel well," Spock said, almost snapped, to Kirk. His voice was rough and strained.

"I'm not surprised," Kirk said sympathetically. He squeezed Spock's knee. "You haven't had a wink of sleep for the last four days." Kirk frowned. He reached into his pant's pocket and pulled out the blue vial that Doctor Crusher had given him. "I wasn't going to tell you about this," he said, "but seeing as how you feel so awful that you're actually willing to admit to it, I figure you'll take this without me having to sneak it in you."

Kirk heard--more than saw--Spock move his arm away from his face. The Vulcan reached forward and took the vial from Kirk's hands and eyed it.

"What is this?"

"Just something I got from the doctor, Spock. She said it's a sedative and a relaxant. You're supposed to put five drops of it into a drink before you go to bed."

"Very well," Spock said, though it sounded more like a forced gasp. "Captain, will you bring me a glass of lemon tea?"

Kirk shook his head. "It's too early. It's not even noon yet."

"Captain--"

"Shh," Kirk said and squeezed Spock's knee again. "You know I'm right, Spock. If you take that stuff now, you'll wake up at midnight. Then what? You can't function on such a weird schedule. Just wait a few more hours. How about six? We'll get an early dinner, and then you can go to bed."

Spock inhaled slowly, and Kirk knew that the action meant Spock was mulling something over, trying to make it appear more logical in his mind. "That is a wise course of action, Jim. I will wait."

Kirk smiled. He sat for a few seconds and just stared at Spock, the smile quickly falling off his face and being replaced with a worried expression. In all the time he'd known Spock, the Vulcan had rarely gotten sick. The only thing close was Pon Farr, but that wasn't due to happen for years.

The sound of the bed creaking interrupted Kirk from his thoughts. He turned and saw Spock trying to push himself up in the bed.

"Spock, Spock, stop," Kirk blurted as he twisted around to grab his friend's shoulders. "Let me help you."

"The gesture is appreciated, Captain, but unnecessary."

"Yes it is." Kirk held onto one of Spock's biceps and gently, slowly, pulled the other man up until he was standing. "You're weak. You need to take it easy."

"I can walk, Jim," Spock assured his friend before pushing Jim's hands away. "You needn't worry."

"I can't help but worry, Spock."

Spock stared straight ahead, his mouth set in a straight line, almost a frown. "Captain. It is illogical to dwell upon something when one has specifically told you that such action is unwelcome."

"All right then," Kirk said. He took a step away from Spock. "Do what you think you need to. Are you hungry? I haven't had lunch yet. I haven't had breakfast either, for that matter." His stomach growled as if proving the accuracy of his statement.

"I believe I can eat something," Spock agreed. "In our quarters, if that is all right."

"Fine, Spock. I'm not really in the mood for the 10 Forward crowds anyway. You can go ahead and sit down; I'll get your food. The usual? Vulcan--"

Spock shook his head. "Warm vegetable broth please, Sir."

Kirk walked quickly to the replicator so that he could turn around and discreetly watch Spock. The Vulcan finally made it to his seat at their table and sat down, closing his eyes and breathing in a manner which reminded Kirk as a sigh of relief. "You sure this is all you want?"

Spock glanced at Kirk. "I am."

"That's not much, even for you."

Spock didn't say anything in response, so Kirk began sipping his coffee. He watched his friend as he slowly sipped his soup. His movements were slow; his reactions even slower. The sophisticated, usually-graceful Vulcan had soup dripping down his chin. He didn't seem to care--or notice.

"Spock--" Kirk said, reaching down and taking the towel by his arm and handing it to Spock. "You've got some on your face."

Spock took the towel and lightly dabbed at his lip. He set down his spoon and closed his eyes, no doubt wanting to fall asleep at the table.

Kirk was just about to reach over and shake Spock's arm, but he was interrupted by a page in his quarters.

"_Captain Picard to Captain Kirk."_

Kirk glanced away from Spock towards the intercom. "Yeah--Yes, Captain?"

"_I'm glad I found you, Sir. I was wondering if you and Mister Spock might have time to meet with me and Commander Riker?"_

Kirk looked at Spock for conformation, but the Vulcan still sat with his head bowed and his eyes closed.

"What time were you thinking, Captain?"

Picard was silent for a beat. _"…As soon as possible, Captain."_

Sure that Picard's hesitance would spark Spock's curiosity, Kirk looked at his friend one more time, only to see Spock in the same position. "What about now?"

"_That'll be splendid. Thank you. Commander Riker and I will be in the debriefing room when you're ready."_

"All right. We'll be there soon. Kirk--Kirk out."

Kirk stood up and put his hand on Spock's shoulders, noting that his friend didn't attempt to move away like he often did. "Hey. Did you hear all that?"

Spock inhaled slowly, no doubt sighing. "I could not help but hear it, Captain."

"Good. You ready?"

Spock, his hands tightly wrapped around the arms of his chair, pushed himself up. "As ready as I shall ever be, I believe. If you wish, you may go on ahead. I will arrive shortly."

"No, Spock," Kirk said softly, his voice gentle. "I don't mind waiting for you." He removed his hand from the Vulcan's shoulder and stepped back. "Take your time."

"That would be illogical, Captain, since Captain Picard and Commander Riker are expecting us shortly."

When he had finally caught his balance on his two feet, Spock turned his head towards Kirk. "I am ready."

Kirk nodded. "Good."

Spock's pace was slow, but he was able to walk without Kirk having to hold his arm or have a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The two didn't say anything as they walked to the turbolift at the end of the hall, nor did they speak once inside. When the turbolift stopped, however, Kirk moved to step out. Before he could do so, he felt warm fingers brush against his arm.

"Jim."

Kirk turned to look at the Vulcan. Spock was leaning against the turbolift walls, breathing heavily. Kirk could tell his body was tense.

"Yeah, Spock?"

Spock swallowed. In a soft, dry voice, he said, "Please do not tell Captain Picard or Commander Riker of my situation."

Reassuringly, Kirk smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll figure out on their own that something is up."

"I do not wish anyone to know. You have already told the doctor, I do not want you to tell anyone else."

For a second, Kirk just stared at Spock, trying to figure out what his friend was upset about. Sure, he was a Vulcan; Vulcans didn't want others to know when they were sick, in pain, emotional…but hadn't he done the _logical_ thing by speaking to the doctor? How did Spock expect to get well if he hadn't? The Vulcan was too tired to enter into his healing stance, his meditation wasn't helping. What more was there to do?

"Spock," Kirk said slowly, "this is your fifth day without sleeping. If you were human, you'd have a foot in your grave."

"I am not human."

"Right, excuse me. You're obviously fine. This--this--what it is--is having no affect on your human half whatsoever. I guess we can just--"

"Jim," Spock interrupted, his voice louder and more forceful than it had been the last few days. Spock quickly lowered it, practically whispering the next words. "I did not say that I did not _appreciate_ your concern. I simply wish you had not enlightened the doctor of my situation." He straightened as best he could. "However, the action has already been taken, and I simply wanted to prevent it from happening again."

Kirk nodded, a little ashamed that he had let his temper run so short with Spock. Sure, he was being difficult, but he was just being Spock. "Sure, Spock," Kirk agreed. "I'll keep my mouth shut. Promise."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Good morning Captain. Commander." Riker motioned towards chairs for Kirk and Spock. "Please, sit."

Once they'd settled down, Picard looked Kirk squarely in the eye. "We know how you came to be here, Captain."

Kirk leaned forward, immediately more interested than he had been a second before. "What? How? How? Why?" he stammered.

"A being called 'Q' sent you here," Riker answered. "We've had encounters with him several times before, all unpredictable, dangerous, and--" he looked at Picard--"annoying."

"Q is omniscient, immortal, all-powerful…he can do anything he wants, whenever he wants, to whoever he wants, and there's no one that can stop him." Picard moved his eyes from Kirk to Spock, who was staring at the table. "No one, that is, except the Continuum."

"The what?" Kirk asked. As much as he already couldn't stand this Q character, he sounded fascinating.

"The Continuum has always seemed to me to be his…his _race, _if you will. All of the Q are part of the Continuum."

Spock looked up. "There are more of these beings?"

Riker nodded. "We're not sure how many, but we know that Q answers to them. He came aboard our ship once and told us that he was being punished for tormenting an inferior race. They'd stripped him of all his powers and he had to prove his worth before they let him back in."

"What does this have to do with us?" Kirk asked. "Why did he send us here?"

"He did basically the same thing again," Riker explained. "Tormented a less-advanced race. This time as punishment, the Continuum made him attend a tolerance seminar to learn how to accept members of other races as having equal worth. The final part of the seminar was observing members of different races interacting with each other to accomplish a goal."

"And he chose the Captain and myself," Spock finished. Riker nodded.

"Well--Well how long are we going to be here?" Kirk asked. "It's been a week; how much longer does he have to 'observe' us? And why couldn't he just go back in time and watch us on our own ship? He can do that, right? Time travel?"

"Oh, yes," Picard said. "As a matter of fact, he's taken us with him a few times. He said that one of the options he could use was picking people from different eras. That is why you're here."

Riker snorted. "That, and the fact that he seems to have an unhealthy obsession with our ship an its crew. And, to be honest, we don't know how long you'll be here. You can never know with Q. Half the stuff he tells us is a lie. For all we know, he's not really being forced to do this, he's just doing it to see the look on everyone's faces."

"We just wanted to make you aware of the situation," Picard explained. "Unfortunately, that's all we know at the moment, but I have a feeling that Q will be back sooner than we want him to be."


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay I know this chapter is a little short, but that's because I wanted to see how to guys took it. I've always been a total shipper for them :) I still don't own Star Trek! Please R&R with suggestions, comments, etc, thanks! **

"How's that diagnostic coming, Data?"

"I require approximately fifteen more minutes before completion," Data answered his best friend, not looking up from the computer console to look at him. "I regret that I could not have gotten it done last night, but it could not be helped."

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. Where were you last night?"

Data's fingers stopped moving along the keypad. "Captain Picard called me to the Bridge. He allowed Captain Kirk to take over a part of the night watch, and he wanted me to assist him."

"You're kidding!" Geordi said, disbelief and shock dripping from his voice. "Captain Picard gave Kirk _command _of the ship? I'll be damned."

"Yes, I was quite surprised as well." Data scooted his chair away from the computer and swiveled it so that he faced the chief engineer. "Geordi, may I talk to you about something? It has been rather distracting to me."

"Sure Data," Geordi said as he approached Data and leaned against the computer module. "What's on your mind?"

Data's mouth twitched, which, Geordi knew, meant that he wasn't sure how to say what it was that he had to say. "I…I do not think Captain Kirk approves of my being in Starfleet."

The statement caught Geordi off guard. He raised both eyebrows. "Why do you say that?"

Data cocked his head. "Every conversation he and I have had to this point has included a statement from him about how inhuman I am."

"Well…Data, you're…you're not human. Why's it bothering you? Our technology is a hundred years ahead of his; sure, he's seen androids, but never one near as sophisticated as you. I'm sure he just doesn't know how to react. You know, I'd bet that he's actually really intimidated by you."

Data furrowed his eyebrows. "Intimidated?"

"Well, sure." Geordi licked his lips and thought of how to phrase his next words. "Data, you're so much more intelligent than anyone on this ship. You're the strongest. You're immortal."

"Nevertheless," Data interrupted, "I am a machine. I am but the result of one man's dream, become a reality."

"And how is that any different from a human child?" Geordi asked, leaning forward to be nearer to Data. "The mom and dad dream up a child, and they make it happen. How are you any different?"

Data shook his head. "It is not the same, Geordi."

Geordi frowned, then sighed. He looked away from Data and stared at the floor in front of them. "You're not acting like yourself, Data. Why is this bothering you so much? So Kirk doesn't think you're fit to be in Starfleet, what does he know? He's living in the past, Data--a century ago. Don't worry about what he thinks." He glanced at Data again.

Data was silent for a moment. "I am not worried. However, I remember reading about Captain Kirk while in the Academy," Data began. "And…for some reason…" he locked eyes with Geordi. "I remember thinking, Captain Kirk…would accept me. If he would accept Spock, he would accept me." His head twitched again. "It appears my assumption was in error."

"We got a visit from Q."

Counselor Troi looked up at Riker over her angel hair pasta. "You're kidding."

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Riker asked her. As soon as he asked, a wide, goofy grin spread over his face. They both chuckled.

Riker, trying to regain his Commander-like composer, looked down at his shrimp jambalaya and picked at it with his fork, trying to decide whether he wanted a piece of shrimp or a clump of rice. "Are you sure you don't want any, Deanna? It's great."

Troi shook her head. "In all the years you've known me, when have I eaten spice food around you?"

"Well, easy. Remember when we went to the Ferengi diner on Starbase Twenty-Two? You didn't hesitate to order the spiciest thing on the menu."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, nor did you hesitate to tell me what exactly it was I was ordering."

He laughed, eyes shining, and leaned back in his chair. "I thought you'd like to find out for yourself."

She shook her head and took a bite of her pasta. "No, no, I would've preferred that you tell me, actually. I like cool foods, not spicy."

"Well, now I know."

Riker couldn't take his eyes off Troi. _She's beautiful_, he thought. _Why did I ever let her go?_

"Will?"

Riker shook his head and locked eyes with the counselor. "Huh?"

She set down her fork. "I asked you what Q wanted."

"Oh, right." Riker cleared his throat and moved back up in his chair. "The Continuum sent him to a tolerance seminar after he tortured yet another race, and part of the seminar is observing people from different races, eras, whatever, interact with each other." Troi opened her mouth, but Riker held up his hand. "I'm sure the captain will hold a debriefing about it later today, ask then."

"Q sent Kirk and Spock here, then?"

"Yes."

"How much longer does he have to observe them?"

Riker shrugged. "I don't know. He said his paper isn't due for another three weeks."

Troi raised her eyebrows. "Surely he won't expect us to keep them onboard the _Enterprise_ for an entire month?"

"I don't know," Riker admitted. "That was basically Captain Picard's reaction. Q told him that if we could get Spock to show three emotions, any at all, he would send them back to their own time and everything would go back to normal. Thankfully, we've already got an idea."

"What emotions?"

"I don't think he said any specifics. Anyway, I was hoping you could give me some advice on how we could go about this. I mean, you're the expert on this kind of thing."

She straightened in her chair. "That's why you invited me to lunch? To ask me about this?" She smirked. "And here I thought there was more to it."

Riker smiled. "There is more, Counselor. I wanted to see you. And then I thought…well, you know. Why not hit two birds with one stone?"

"Aren't you the charmer?" Troi said with a laugh. She calmed herself instantly and said, "All right, Commander. What is it you'd like to know?"

It wasn't the first time that they playfully referred to each other by their titles, nor would it be the last. A pair with a history like theirs could get away with such things. Riker felt a quick, sharp ache in his chest as he looked back on the time that they had been together, been dating. He'd been reminiscing for weeks now, asking himself why he let her go.

"What the hell," Riker said aloud. "Counselor, I have feelings for somebody. And I don't think I should."

Troi cocked her head. "I'm sorry Commander; I was under the impression that you wanted to discuss Mr. Spock's emotions."

Riker shook his head. "This is more important."

Troi blushed slightly, so slightly that no one but Riker would have noticed it. Not only did he notice it, but he had been expecting it. "Important?" she asked. "To you or to the ship?"

"To me," Riker said, his tone and face completely serious. "Deanna--" he reached across the table and put his hand over hers--"I _miss_ you."

Troi frowned but didn't move her hand out from under his. "I don't know why," she said softly. "I'm right here."


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello! Welcome back to the story lol. I am soooooooooooo sorry that I haven't updated for like 4 months; it's been a really crazy time with school starting, working (I have my own place now, so I actually have to pay for something lol), having a bit of a social life, yadya yadya ya. Yeah, I know, that's no excuse! I hope people are still going to read this lol, it would suck if all my readers forget the website existed or something. Anyway, here's chapter 14. I was so eager to get it up that I wrote it in two days, and, if I may brag, I think it's great! The character interactions are great, and, I think, very accurate. **

"Here, Spock," Kirk said, handing a glass of warm, lemon-flavored water to the Vulcan. "I put your medicine in it. Drink it and then we'll get you to bed."

Spock was already drinking the liquid before Kirk had finished talking. He drank it all in one swallow, then set the small glass down on the counter and, pushing himself up with his arm, stood.

"We'd better hurry," Kirk told him. "Doctor Crusher said that stuff works kind of fast. I guess it would've been smart to give it to you in our quarters, but…oh well."

Kirk hadn't even thought of waiting to give Spock the medication until the Vulcan was already situated in bed. He had been so eager just to _give_ it to Spock, he didn't care how it happened. His friend hadn't improved at all throughout the day, if anything he had only gotten worse. He had spoken as little as possible, hadn't eaten anything solid all day, and did nothing but sit with his head bowed and his eyes closed. He hadn't slept a single second, though--Kirk had often tapped him on the shoulder, or quietly whispered his name, and each time the Vulcan would respond verbally or open his eyes.

The two of them exited Ten Forward. Spock's weakness had taken a considerable toll on his gait; the once proud and efficient Vulcan was now hunched over and slow. Kirk couldn't help himself from reaching out and wrapping his hand around Spock's bicep to support him.

Spock looked over at him when he did so. "Captain," he said, in a soft and hoarse voice, "that is not necessary."

"Don't argue with me, Mr. Spock," Kirk said gently, but firmly, as he led his friend out of Ten Forward and down the hall that went to their quarters.

Spock, Kirk noticed, had begun to breathe differently. Instead of the long, quiet breaths that he was accustomed to, Spock was now breathing quickly, and it sounded almost like a wheeze, like he had to literally choke every breath down into his throat. The Vulcan's body was also sagging--when Kirk had first touched Spock's muscle, it had been firm and flexed from Spock's rigid and vigilant posture. Now, it had laxed and felt like nothing but soft flesh. Even Spock's eyes, instead of being open and alert, were half closed, as if he were about to fall--oh no.

"Hey, Spock," Kirk said as he tightened his grip on Spock's arm and quickened his own pace, hoping the Vulcan would follow. "Come on, Spock. We're almost to our quarters; they're just down the hall."

"I know…where we are staying…Captain."

"Oh, good, then you know that it would be _illogical_ to fall asleep now, when your own bed is so nearby. Don't do it Spock. I don't know if I can carry you."

"I am afraid…Captain…that it may be…too…late."

And with those ironic last words, Spock's body began slumping to the ground. Kirk immediately bent over and wrapped both arms under Spock's armpits to make sure that it was a slow fall. He sat there on his knees, Spock's back and head against his chest, glad that no one else was in the hallway to see them like this.

"Captain?"

Damn, Kirk thought to himself, knowing that he had jinxed the situation. He had recognized the voice. "Hello, Data," he said, trying to disguise the sourness in his tone. He didn't mind the fact that Data was now in the hallway with them, he just minded the fact that _someone_ was in the hallway with them. He turned his head to look at the android and saw Data staring at him, his head cocked and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Is Mr. Spock well?" he asked, and Kirk could tell that the question had both curiosity and concern.

"Fine. He just hasn't been sleeping well lately. Doctor Crusher gave him some medicine, and I made the dumb mistake of giving it to him while we were getting dinner. She said they would put him to sleep almost instantly; when we say that on my ship, we mean ten minutes, not two."

"Ah," Data said with a nod. "That is understandable. Our sleep-aids are more advanced then yours. The first upgrade was achieved when Doctor Mark Lionel--"

Kirk waved his hand. "That--That's really fascinating Data, but, right now, I just need to get Spock back to his room."

"Do you need some assistance?"

"No, no. I've got him." Kirk smiled at the android, hoping it would make him leave. "Thanks."

Data, of course, remained where he was. Kirk stood, still bent over, and pulled Spock's body up, then tried to put one arm around Spock's waist and the other across his chest. This didn't work for two reasons--one, the Vulcan was much heavier than Kirk had planned, because Vulcans are no doubt one-hundred percent muscle mass, and number two, Spock was about three inches taller than Kirk, making the whole situation--awkward.

Kirk tried again to get Spock in a position that he could half-carry, half-drag him in, and he was as unsuccessful as the first time. Then he noticed Data was bending over and staring at him through confused, squinted eyes.

"Are you sure you do not need help, Captain?"

"Yes!" Kirk said adamantly. But after he tried and failed a third time to get Spock into his arms, he laid the Vulcan on the ground, stood up, and looked at Data. "No. Maybe I'm not sure. Would you mind--"

Data nodded and moved towards Spock. "Of course, Sir."

Data didn't even _try_ to pick Spock up. He just…did it. Kirk was amazed when Data reached down, slipped one arm under Spock's shoulders and one under his knees, and lifted him as if he weighed no more than a pillow.

Data looked at Kirk, and if he saw the stunned expression on the Captain's face, he ignored it. "Where are your quarters, Sir?"

"They're--They're right down the hall," Kirk said as he attempted to recover from his shock. Data instantly began walking in the indicated direction, and Kirk followed right behind.

"If it's not too personal," he began, "how much can you lift?"

"Two tons", Data replied as if it was something every man could do.

"Wow…and you've just always been able to do that? Ever since you were a kid--I mean--ever since you were made? I mean…turned on?"

"Yes."

Kirk frowned. Data hadn't seemed at all phased at Kirk fumbling over the words to describe his--well, his birth. Part of Kirk was relieved that Data didn't get offended, but part of him also felt pity for the android. He was nothing more than a box of circuits. He couldn't feel pleasure, satisfaction, triumph…nothing.

"Data, I'm sorry," Kirk said apologetically. "I know you don't care whether I apologize or not, but--"

"On the contrary, Captain," Data interrupted. "I appreciate the gesture. It is most thoughtful."

"So--So you're glad I did it? No, wait…you can't be glad. So what are you? Data, what are you feeling right now?" Kirk stopped walking, and expected Data to do the same. When he didn't, Kirk reached out and placed a hand on the android's shoulder. "Hey, answer me."

Data locked eyes with Kirk. "No matter what answer I give you, Captain, I do not believe it will suffice. I cannot tell you what it is you want to hear, as I am not feeling anything."

Kirk shook his head. "I'm not trying to get you to say anything, Data. I'm just trying to figure you out."

Data resumed walking. "If it is any comfort to you, you are not the only crew member who had a difficult time accepting me. Commander Riker was also uncomfortable with an android crew member."

"Really?" Kirk said, raising his eyebrows. "I felt like Riker would be one of the most accepting people on this ship."

Data nodded. "He is, Sir. The simple fact that I am a machine is what made me a different story for him. However, the tension was short lived."

"How short lived?"

"Approximately three minutes, Sir."

Kirk smirked. "And here I am, a Starfleet Captain, someone whose entire purpose in life is to meet new races, and I'm having a hard time accepting you. Theories?"

"Yes, Sir. My superiority is unknown to you."

Kirk raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Mr. Data?" he said in a ton that obviously meant _what the hell are you implying?_

"I meant no offense, Captain. I will tell you the same thing I told Commander Riker. I am superior to humans, in many ways. I am stronger, faster, and more intelligent…but I would give it all up to be human."

* * *

Kirk pulled the blankets up to Spock's shoulders, then had yet another one replicated to keep his friend warm, and asleep. He sat on the bed next to Spock and brushed his hair away from the Vulcan's forehead. Kirk smiled when he saw Spock's pointed ear poking out from his thin hair, and his own words rang in his mind: "those ears carry a multitude of sins". True, they weren't exact to what he had said, but the real words just didn't seem as funny to him at the moment.

Kirk's thoughts drifted back to Spock's Pon Farr, and how the last thought to go through his mind before he passed out was, "Well, Spock. You've saved my life plenty of times. I guess it's time I pay you back." And then he was gone. Kirk smirked when he remembered how shocked he had been when he woke up in Sickbay and saw McCoy's face two inches from his own, bent over and inspecting a cut on his face from the whole ordeal.

And Spock…when Spock came back on the ship and saw Kirk…he had _smiled_! Now just smiled, even, but was close to laughing. Kirk couldn't help but feel a little regret that McCoy and Nurse Chapel had been there when they were reunited. What if they hadn't been there? Would Spock have opened up?

Kirk sighed and stood up, dimming the lights to just enough so if Spock woke up he'd still be able to see, and then he went and washed his face and laid down on his own bed. What if, he found himself thinking as he fell asleep. What if…


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, I like this chapter, but part of me doesn't like it. I like the general concept of the Bridge crew meeting and trying to figure out what emotions to get Spock to show and how, but I don't like how they go about it...research prominent emotions in other races? lol. I don't know, I feel like it's kind of corny, and I tried to get Troi to mention that towards the end. Honestly, I didn't know how the crew would go about figuring something like this out, so I tried to guess. So, if it doesn't make much logical sense, that's why lol.**

** Oh, and I made it a priority to get each Bridge crew member to at least say SOMETHING. Except Wesley haha, whom I do hope to incorporate a little more. Him and Worf both. Some more Geordi wouldn't hurt either. I'm using Data a ton, but he is definitely my favorite TNG character, and it shows lol. So, if you have any suggestions on how I could use Worf, Wesley, and Geordi, feel free to leave them :) Thanks for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it!**

**Oh, and I still don't own Star Trek :) Just this idea lol.**

* * *

Picard looked down the table at all of his senior officers' attentive faces. It was ten-hundred hours. Ensign Crusher had the bridge. He was waiting to get confirmation from Starfleet that they had received the results of the _Enterprise's _semi-annual diagnostic. He needed to write his yearly letter to the folks back home. He had received orders, to go to a new colony on Wickle VI in the Bovarius sector to help them set up all the new equipment they'd be using. Lord, that would take a few days too many. Not to mention all the away teams that would need to be put together, all the supplies that would need to be replicated, all the fake smiles he'd have to give out…and that wasn't even the worst of his problems.

"As you have all heard," Picard began to address his senior officers, "we must get Commander Spock to show three emotions, to Q's satisfaction. He has not specified _which_ emotions we are to be aiming for, but knowing Q, he will not be happy with one small smile or a single tear." He paused and looked around at them. "Suggestions."

Geordi spoke first. "Well, we've obviously got to be realistic about this. Personally, I think it'd be easier to make Spock angry than it would be to get him to crack a joke."

"I agree," Crusher said. "We need to get him to show emotions that are found in every race, no matter how subtlety. If we could just find something that he was passionate about, we could work off that. I haven't found Spock to be completely passionate about anything."

"Not anything," Picard agreed. "But how about _anyone_?"

Troi raised her eyebrows and smirked. "You're talking about Captain Kirk."

Picard nodded. "I think it is inevitable that Kirk will be involved in this someway, somehow. If he did something to offend Spock, I think he would be more hurt than if one of us did it. The behavior you expect from strangers, you wouldn't expect from a comrade and friend you've had for years."

"Not to mention commanding officer," Riker added. "Yeah, they're friends, but Spock still answers to Kirk. If Kirk did something totally unprofessional…totally out of line…maybe it would--"

"Ruin their relationship?" Troi interrupted. "We can't do that. Whatever it was would have to be so severe that they could probably never go back to being what they are now."

Worf didn't give Riker time to respond. He said, "Vulcans are a strong race, Counselor. I am sure Commander Spock would be able to see past Kirk's actions."

"I agree with Deanna," Beverly said as she leaned closer and crossed her arms on the table. "We need to avoid hurting either of them emotionally. We have no right to do so. Whatever it is has to be something that they can both get over and live past."

"We'll need to research emotionalism in Vulcans," Riker said. "Maybe if we can an emotion that's more commonly displayed we can find out how it'll work with Kirk and Spock."

Picard nodded, then held up his hand to signal silence. "Mr. Data," he said, and the android turned and looked at him, "is everything all right?"

"Yes, Captain."

The other officers were all looking at Data now, too. They all knew why he wasn't saying anything.

"You're not saying much," Riker said, hoping to get Data's feelings--well, _concerns--_out in the open. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yes, Sir. I am fine. I just…" Data cocked his head and looked from Picard to Riker. "I do not believe I have much to offer this discussion."

Picard leaned back in his seat. "I disagree, Data," he said gently. "True, you might not have much to offer by means of experience, but I doubt any one of us has experience at getting a Vulcan to show his feelings."

Data nodded. "Yes, Captain. I will try to be more helpful."

"Good. You can start by researching emotionalism in Vulcans. Counselor, I want you to pick three emotions that are prominent in all races. And, all of you…I want you to be prepared to use some less-than-conventional means."

* * *

Troi was pleasantly surprised when she saw that it was Commander Riker who had been ringing the doorbell of her quarters. She smiled at him. "Will? Can I help you?"

"Can I come in?"

She sighed and crossed her arms, drumming her fingers on her upper arms. She looked up thoughtfully. "Well, I _am_ awfully busy doing my research." She smirked at him. "But, if you're willing to help me with it, I might be able to spare a few minutes for fun."

Riker smiled broadly. "Well then, Counselor, let's get started."

She stood aside as he walked into her quarters and pulled a chair up to her desk. After locking her door, she sat down next to him at her computer. "You came at a perfect time," she told him. "I'm afraid I was starting to fall asleep."

"What have you found out so far?" he asked her. "Anything useful?"

She snorted. "Hardly. I could've just told the Captain everything I've been reading about. It's nothing I didn't already know."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because. This is important. We're dealing with two people's emotions, two people who are more important to Starfleet than almost anyone else. This is _not_something I want to mess up." She looked at Riker. "It's pretty simple, really. Almost all races show happiness, in some form or another. Almost all show sorrow, and almost all show love."

"What about anger?"

She nodded. "See, even you could figure this out without research."

"Even me?" he repeated, raising his eyebrows and smirking at her.

"You know what I mean, Will," Troi said, not bothering to hide her smile. "I've already contacted Data--he was done much earlier than me, of course--and he came to the exact conclusion that I did."

"So do either of you have any ideas on _how_ to get Spock to show these emotions?"

Troi nodded slowly. "I do. Unfortunately, it is rather…cruel." Riker looked at her, no doubt about to ask what she meant by 'cruel', but she went on before he could ask. "When I was at the Academy, I read an article about Spock. It was a very rare article, very hard to get a hold of. It discussed his first Pon Farr.

"The article was written by Miriam Young. She is one of the most celebrated Betazed counselors of all time. She specializes in finding emotions in races that seem to not have many, or none at all. Vulcans, Klingons, the Romulans, and more. Anyway, in the ad, she discusses a time she interviewed Commander Spock. While she didn't get much out of him verbally, he did allow her to meld with him."

"Really?"

Troi nodded. "She explains in the ad that it wasn't an easy thing to do, but that she eventually convinced him that it was for the good of science and future generations to know what makes Vulcan emotions tick. He, of course, argued that Vulcans have them, they simply suppress them, to which she countered that it had to be known when it was acceptable for Vulcans to act on emotion and when it was not."

"But Spock is half human," Riker noted. "Wouldn't his--readings--be different from pure Vulcans?"

"She expected that, and countered that Spock, as he is half-human, had to make an even larger attempt to suppress his emotions than pure Vulcans did. She thought this would make him an ideal candidate. So, they meld, and she sees all the strongest emotions that Spock had felt in in his life up to that point. He felt love and happiness while on Omicron Ceti III, but they were false emotions because he was, in a way, drugged by factors on the planet. Then there are some minor events, which, to be honest, were nothing more than alien-induced feelings. The other major emotional period was after his first Pon Farr."

"I can imagine," Riker said. "He thought he killed Kirk. That would be enough to make anyone crazy."

"Yes, but there's a part of the story that wasn't written into the textbooks. When Spock finds that Kirk is alive, he apparently smiled broadly, held him by the shoulders, and 'raised his voice in merriment'," she quoted Young.

Riker chuckled. "I can imagine why he wanted to keep that a secret." He leaned back in his seat and lifted his legs up, placing them in her lap and crossing them. "So. You want to make Spock go through all that again."

She frowned and pushed his legs down. "I told you it was a cruel idea. You don't need to rub it in."

He chuckled again. "It is cruel. I also think it's genius. If that's the only time in his thirty-six years of life that he showed genuine, true emotions, without being affected by an outside source, I think using it is only…logical."


	16. Chapter 16

**Well, this is a cliff hanger if I've ever seen one! I can't wait to get to work on the next chapter--it's going to be amazing! It will take me at least two days to get it put up, I can tell you that right now lol. Brother's birthday party tonight, eight-hour shift tomorrow...but we'll see what happens after that! Oh, and if you think you know what's going to happen, don't tell! Send me a private message or something and I'll tell you if you're right or wrong lol. I'm very excited to get it up, and I think you guys will be pleased with it too :) This chapter's a little shifty, I feel like my writing is kind of suffering because I'm in such a hurry to get to the big 'climax', does that happen to you guys a lot? Hopefully it's not too bad though lol. Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

* * *

Kirk jolted in his bed, waking up instantly. His forehead was damp with sweat, and his breathing was quick and shallow. "A dream," he said aloud as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes with his palms. "It was…just a dream."

But what a dream it was. Kirk couldn't remember much, only that a ship, one he had known to be Klingon, though it was never specified in the dream, had attacked his ship. _His_ ship. He remembered the emergency lights flashing, atmospheric controls going wild and spitting out carbon dioxide and oxygen gas; he remembered hearing Uhura scream as she was knocked out of her chair and slammed against the computer counsel, Chekov and Sulu were lurched out of the main viewer and into open space, and Spock…

Spock wasn't there, Kirk realized. Not only was he not on the Bridge, but Spock wasn't in his dream at all.

Kirk stood and walked to the replicator to check the time: 1100 hours. Damn, he'd slept sixteen hours.

"It's this place," he muttered to himself as he pulled on the loose jeans sitting on the floor next to the bed. "I never have to be anywhere or do anything, and it's making me lazy." Kirk raised his arms above his head and twisted his torso from side to side to stretch. He let his arms flop to his sides and walked to the commode, where he brushed his teeth and listened for Spock. He couldn't hear the Vulcan, but whether this meant he was still asleep or he was also being quiet, Kirk didn't know.

Kirk knocked softly at the door. If Spock was awake, he would hear it. There was no reply. He typed the code in the pad and the door unlocked itself and slid open. "Spock?" he said softly, stepping into the dark room. He could see Spock's figure lying on the bed, on his side, and wrapped in the covers.

Kirk approached the bed, stepping as quietly as he could. He could see Spock's chest moving inward and outward with his long, powerful breathing. Kirk reached out to pull the blanket up and over Spock's shoulder, as it was pushed all the way down to his elbow, but he froze while doing so.

"Jim."

"Spock!" Kirk said in surprise. He instantly took a step back from the bed. "Spock, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to wake you, I just--"

"You did not," Spock assured him. He pulled the covers off himself and turned so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. " I've been awake for approximately an hour."

"But you stayed in bed?" Kirk smirked. "Snug as a bug in a rug, Mr. Spock?"

Spock inhaled heavily. "I don't believe that I would be able to figure out _what_ it is you mean by that statement, Captain, so I will not attempt to do so. I have been contemplating a dream that I had."

Kirk stood aside as Spock stood and walked past him to the commode. "It must've been a really weird dream."

"Not particularly," Spock answered from the bathroom. Kirk heard the water turn on for only a second and knew Spock had to be washing his face. "I dreamed I was on the _Enterprise _as she was being attacked by a Klingon war vessel. Everyone on the Bridge other than myself was seriously injured." He paused. "Except you, Sir. You were not there." Spock dried his face as he waited for Kirk's response, but it never came.

"Captain?"

"I'm…sorry, Spock," Kirk, who had appeared in the commode's doorframe, said. He made eye contact with Spock. "I had that same dream…only…_you_ weren't there."

Spock put his towel in the laundry hamper as he said, "It could not have been the same dream. The odds of that occurring are miniscule."

Kirk nodded. That seemed fair enough. "All right, then. What happened to Uhura in yours?"

Spock frowned and cocked his head. "Jim, I do not think this is a pleasant subject to discuss."

"She was thrown up against the computer, right?" Kirk pressed. "And Chekov and Sulu--what happened to them?"

Kirk knew that he had been right by the way Spock's mouth opened slightly when he said what had happened to Uhura. This was the human equivalent of dropping ones jaw. "They were ejected out of the main view screen," Spock answered.

Kirk nodded. "Yeah. Here too." Kirk paused, expecting Spock to say something--anything--that might explain why they both had the same dream. Spock was the smarter one between them; it was a fact that couldn't be debated. For all his leadership abilities, life experience, common sense, everything, Kirk was still nowhere as intelligent as his Vulcan first officer, and he had come to accept the fact shortly after they'd been assigned to work together.

Kirk decided to change the subject. "So, Spock, how'd you sleep?"

Geordi LaForge smiled as he felt the sand under his feet, the warm breeze flowing past his face, and the sun beating down on him. On his left, the waves rolled and crashed onto the shore. On his right, he could hear the faint sounds of birds chirping and calling out to one another.

After the week I've been through, I deserve a month of shore leave, he thought to himself. _C'est la vie,_ Geordi. _C'est la vie d'un officier de Starfleet._

Geordi's week had consisted of four to five hours of sleep per night, two meals a day instead of three, and spending up to fifteen hours at a time in Engineering. Data had been there a lot of the time with him, but he was also spending a large amount of his free time with Kirk or Spock, or both.

Why couldn't Scotty have come back? Geordi thought. I'd at least have something in common with him. I'd at least know what to say around him, other than, 'I learned all about you at the Academy.'

"Mr. LaForge?"

Geordi jerked in surprise and whirled around to see none other than Captain Kirk standing behind him. He tried to cover up his shock, but did a horrible job at it. "Ca-Captain! Um, how can I help you?"

Kirk smiled and walked up beside him. He motioned for Geordi to follow, and the two of them continued their trek down the along the waves.

"I wanted to ask you a personal question," Kirk answered. "About your android."

Geordi chuckled. "People always ask me about him. New cadets, ambassadors, admirals; anyone that doesn't talk to him directly will talk to me about him."

"I do talk to him," Kirk said. "My question isn't about him, it's about you." He paused and bit his lower lip. "How…" Geordi looked over and saw that Kirk was frowning. "How did you…when you first met him…how did you…accept him?" Kirk didn't give him time to answer. He continued, "Spock and I have been here almost a month, and while we're comfortable with the surroundings, I'm still pretty uncomfortable around the people. Data especially. Well, and Worf, but we won't go into that now."

Geordi chuckled. "Don't worry, Sir. Anyone who doesn't know Worf is uncomfortable around him."

Geordi crossed his arms. "I'm not really sure how I accepted Data," he answered. "Actually, I'm not sure if I ever did. Do I admit that Data's stronger than me? Yes. Does he remember things easier than I do? Yes. Does he know more than I ever will? Yes." He stopped and chuckled. "But Captain, even with all that against me, he still wants to be just like me."

Kirk nodded. "That's what he told me. He said he'd give up everything to be human."

"When I first met him, I was intrigued by him," Geordi continued. "He was polite, helpful, concerned--all things that I hadn't expected him to be." He looked at Kirk. "Sir, with all do respect, maybe you just need to think of him as a human that's stronger, more intelligent, and more efficient than yourself. Don't think of him as an android, because, to be honest, I don't think Data thinks of himself as one. Everything he does, he wonders how a human would do it, how a human would respond."

The two walked in silence for a few moments, until Geordi broke it with a question of his own. "You know, Data and Spock are incredibly alike. You accepted Spock right away. I wonder why you're not doing the same with Data."

Kirk nodded. "That's what was troubling me. Spock has told me that Starfleet was the first place where people accepted him, not as a Vulcan, or a half-Vulcan, but just as _Spock_. I…I have to admit though…I'm not sure of the reason I took to him so easily. When I first laid eyes on him, I knew that I wanted there to be more between us then just a Captain-Officer relationship. I wanted to be someone he considered a friend. Maybe it was just pity. He was the only non-human officer on the _Enterprise_, maybe I just wanted to make sure he knew he was valued. I honestly don't know."

"How emotional is Mr. Spock?" Geordi asked. He figured it was the perfect time to get some helpful information he could share with the Bridge crew. "Does he ever just come clean about how he's feeling?"

Kirk shook his head. "Rarely. I'm his best friend and he doesn't open up to me. He's a definitely a Vulcan, that's for sure."

"Yeah, but--but surely there's _something_," Geordi pressed. "He's got to admit to, or--or just obviously feel _some _kind of emotion."

Kirk smirked. "If you're trying to steer me in a certain direction, Commander, then I must be a bit behind your textbooks."

"Not at all, Sir. I just thought you might have some advice at getting an emotionless being to show emotion." Geordi thought to himself, actually, I thought you might have some advice on how to get _Spock_ to show emotion.

The next morning found Captain Picard sitting in his quarters, alone. He and his crew has exhausted all other possibilities to get Kirk and Spock off their ship. The one idea they had, though extremely unorthodox, was also brilliant. Now there was just one thing left to do.

"Q," Picard said aloud, "I know you're here. Show yourself--we need to talk."


	17. Chapter 17

A large flash of light immediately appeared, and when it disappeared, Picard raised his eyebrows. Q was standing before him wearing a neon orange vest, a pair of baggy black pants, and the outfit was topped off with a pair of pink heart-shaped sunglasses. Q was breathing heavily, panting, and his face was red and sweaty.

"My apologies, Jean-Luc," Q said as he removed the sunglasses from his eyes and perched them on top of his head. "I'm afraid you caught me at an awkward moment."

Picard did a double take of him and asked, "Where were you?"

Q leaned against the wall by Picard's chair, where the captain was sitting, his fingers laced together and sitting in his lap. "I was at a Rave. Apparently, they were quite popular in the twenty-first century. Flashing lights, blasting music, writhing bodies--"

"Q," Picard interrupted, "I didn't call you to hear stories from your latest escapades. I need your help."

Q's excited expression dropped from his face and was instantly replaced with a smug, satisfied look that clearly read 'I told you so'. He leaned against the wall and crossed his bare arms. "I'm listening."

"My crew and I have come up with a plan to get Spock to show your three emotions. It is, however, rather unorthodox, to put it mildly, and we will need your help to make it happen."

Q's grin widened. "Unorthodox, huh? Why, Jean-Luc, I never would've expected something so exciting from you! I would be happy to help. What did you have in mind?"

Picard explained, starting with what they knew about Spock, his emotions, his emotional outbursts, his passions, his fears, his past--anything that he thought would be relevant to explain their decision. Then, he flatly told Q their idea.

At first, the being remained motionless, as if he were mulling the idea over. Then he looked at Picard and clasped his hands together. "That's wonderful, Captain! You have my _total_ support. Don't worry, Jean-Luc, just leave everything to me."

When Kirk opened his eyes, he immediately recognized where he was…the rustic colored sand and dirt and boulders, the humid air, the hot temperature, the vegetation being a few sporadically placed shrubs…he was on Vulcan.

But not just anywhere on Vulcan--he was sprawled out on the same Stonehenge-like arena where he and Dr. McCoy had accompanied Spock during his Pon Farr. He whipped around and saw more familiar sights only about twenty feet away; T'Pau was sitting on her throne, looking straight at him, as if waiting for him to do something. T'Pring was standing next to her, and her lover, Stonn, and they were staring at him too.

It was exactly as he remembered it. All the same Vulcans present, the same weather, the same feeling of confusion and dread in his chest.

"Captain," said a familiar voice behind him, making him jump in surprise. He turned around and frowned at his first officer.

"Jesus, Spock," he muttered, "don't scare me like that." He put his hands on his hips, but immediately removed them to gesture at their surroundings. "What the hell are we doing here?" The last thing he remembered was drifting off to sleep on the _Enterprise_.

"I am uncertain, Sir. I have no memory of arriving here."

Kirk's frown deepened. "Yeah, well, you're not the only one." He looked over his shoulder and saw T'Pring and T'Pau still watching them, still looking like they were expecting something.

"Okay Spock," Kirk tried again, "I'm gonna pretend like I'm totally unphased by the fact that we're on Vulcan. _But_, why are they here?"

"I don't know," the Vulcan answered stoically. "Although this appears to be the same setting as when I experienced Pon Farr."

"Yeah, my point exactly. Why? You're not gonna go into that for another few years, right?"

Spock nodded. "Five years, ten months, and approximately seventeen days, Sir."

"Right, so why--"

"Captain Kirk!"

T'Pau's voice cut Kirk's question short. He turned and looked at the elder Vulcan, who was now standing.

"Dost thee accept the challenge of kal-if-fee?"

Kirk found that, for a moment, he was too stunned to say anything. _What is going on?_ he asked himself. _Kal-if-fee? Why are we here? He--_we_--have already gone through this. He's not going to fight me, he's not even going through Pon Farr._

Kirk's thoughts were interrupted when Spock touched his arm. "Jim," Spock said, "I don't fully understand what is happening, but I suggest you answer the Ambassador. She does not like to be ignored."

"Answer her with what?" Kirk spat. "I'm going to ask her how we got here."

"She does not know, Jim. This scenario we are experiencing is exactly the same as our previous experience. For them, it is T'Pring and I's first mating. Tell her you accept the challenge."

"You think I want us to go through this again?"

"Do you think _I_ do?" Spock countered. Kirk saw a fleeting expression of shame and regret slip through his friend's eyes, but Spock quickly blocked it. "You have nothing to fear, Captain. I am not experiencing the Blood Fever. I will not be inclined to harm you."

"Typical Vulcan logic," Kirk muttered as he turned back to T'Pau. "Yes, I accept the challenge!" he hollered.

Immediately he looked back to Spock. "So how we gonna do this, Spock, I'll throw the first punch and we'll work our way up, or what?"

If Kirk didn't know better--which he did--he would've sworn that he saw Spock roll his eyes. "No," the Vulcan answered, his voice flat. "I will perform a simple nerve pinch."

He began reaching towards Kirk as the sound of Vulcan instruments once again filled the air. Kirk glanced over and saw the two pawns approaching him and Spock, the lirpas in their hands.

"Better hurry, Spock," he said softly. "Before they get over here with those things."

The sight of the lirpas brought back a wave of emotions in him; fear, from when he realized that Spock was, indeed, going to try to kill him; anger, at T'Pring for being selfish and 'logical'; and pity, because he knew there was no way that he could defeat Spock, and he knew the Vulcan would never forgive himself for killing his captain. Thank God McCoy had been with them.

Kirk looked back at Spock. The Vulcan's hand was still raised in the air, but it wasn't moving. The Vulcan had begun taking quick, shallow breaths, each one sounding more like an animalistic pant than the last. Spock was staring at his hand, unmoving, with his teeth clenched tightly shut.

"Spock, what is it?" Kirk asked immediately, concerned for his friend. "What's wrong?"

Spock mumbled a one-syllable word that Kirk didn't catch. He leaned in closer to his friend. "What?"

Spock's eyes shot up to meet his captain's, and Kirk felt his heartbeat double in speed. In those Vulcan eyes, he recognized the emotions he had seen before--fury, desire, lust, rage.

Spock spoke again, and his voice was soft and deep, forced.

"Run."


	18. Chapter 18

**So...anyone who was following this story was probably expecting a 500-page update since I haven't written on it in such a long time. Sorry it's short! But hey, that's what working two jobs and going to school does to a girl! lol. But yeah, this one is pretty short, but it felt a lot longer when I was writing it. Strange. I didn't know how to make a good transition from the end of this into the next part, so I decided to just wait for the next chapter, that's why it's tiny. Oh, and if anyone saw the Sherlock Holmes movie, I'm writing a story for that too. So, you should check it out! I still don't own Kirk and Spock, or any other part of the franchise. Thanks for reading!**

Kirk didn't want to. He wanted to remain where he was, tell his friend that everything would be all right-but he was no liar. Nor was he stupid. The look in Spock's eyes told that he needed to leave, and quickly. So, he turned and began running as fast as he could.

T'Pau immediately stood. "Stop him," she said, her voice emotionless, almost cold. "He must stay and fight."

Spock's panting quickened. He was beginning to sound more animal than man. "T-T'Pau," he choked, almost growled. "Let him go. A head start will make-will make him-make him-"

A wave of scorching heat shot through Spock's body, and it took every rational and logical thought with it. The last thing to leave his mind was 'forgive me, Jim'.

He looked out at the surrounding desert and could just barely make out Kirk's shape before it disappeared behind a hill of sand. His new animal instincts made his arms and legs begin pumping him into the direction of his rival.

Despite Kirk's admirable physique, he was already beginning to tire. His heart was racing, but it was more from fear than physical exertion. I'll have to kill him, he told himself. I'll have to _kill_ Spock. Either that, or he'll kill me. He knew right away how unfeasible the idea was. Who am I kidding?, he asked himself as he passed through some dried shrubs. Spock is three times as strong as me, five times as fast, and ten times as smart. There's no way I'll be able to live through this.

"Having doubts, are we?"

Kirk's heart jumped in his chest when he suddenly realized that there was a pale, slightly older man standing in front of him-probably the one Spock had seen in his dream, the one Picard and Riker called Q. Kirk didn't have time to stop running though and, instead, crashed into him, practically slapping himself to the ground. The other man didn't budge.

"You're-You're Q!" Kirk gasped as he stood. "You're the one Captain Picard and Commander Riker told me about. You brought us to the _Enterprise_, and now you've brought us here. Why?"

Q smirked. "It doesn't matter. What _does_ matter is that you've got a furious and ferocious Vulcan less than half a kilometer away from you. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," Kirk admitted. "Run."

And he did. Even as Kirk ran, he could hear Q's taunting voice.

"You can only run so far, you know. He _will_ catch you. Just turn around and look-he's already gaining on you."

Kirk risked glancing behind him. Sure enough, he could easily see Spock cutting through the same shrubs he had just passed through. His lungs were screaming at him still, telling him to stop. His mind telling him to push on, but his body telling him to just give up and let Spock get it over with quickly, Kirk suddenly realized how terrified he really was.

Spock was no more than twenty feet away from him now; Kirk could hear him grunting and panting like an animal. For a moment, he felt a flash of pity for his dearest friend-for all the torture and teasing he went through trying to be able to totally control his emotions, his simple biology ripped all the discipline away. _He won't be able to forgive himself for this_, Kirk thought. _He'll act like he's unaffected. He'll try to resign his commission, he'll try to go in for a court martial, and then he'll live out the rest of his days in misery. It'll be just like before, except this time, no McCoy. No happy ending._

"_Pehkau, komihn!" _

Spock's voice cut into Kirk's mind like a knife. Having no idea what he had said, he decided to ignore the Vulcan. Not that it mattered-Spock was even closer to him now, and Kirk was ready to collapse. He had covered an admirable amount of distance in an even more admirable amount of time, but it was no matter. He couldn't go on any more. He had no weapon, no place to hide, and no one to help him.

As if reading his thoughts, his legs buckled underneath him, and he slammed down onto the hard, dusty terrain. In only a matter of seconds, Spock was sliding to a halt beside him, flinging dirt and dust into his face.

"_Matoy, komihn."_

Spock's words just sounded like mumbled garble to Kirk. Whatever it was he was saying, he was sure he didn't want to hear it.

The Vulcan knelt over him and wasted no time in wrapping his large hands tightly around Kirk's throat. He squeezed, hard. Kirk's heart rate immediately doubled in speed, and his breathing because quick and labored through Spock's hands.

_This is it, _he thought to himself_. I'm going to die. My best friend is killing me. And it's not even his fault. _

"Spock-" Kirk gasped, not knowing what else to say in the situation. Spock hissed and his hands tightened, as if punishing Kirk for trying to distract him.

Kirk reached up and wrapped his hands around Spock's wrists, feeling the thundering heartbeat underneath the thin skin. Spock jerked, shaking Kirk's hands off his arms. He straddled Kirk's body and rested his heavy arms on Kirk's shoulders and chest.

Kirk's face flushed a deep shade of red, then seemed to mellow out into a pale blue-gray. His short, desperate breaths ceased, and his chest was still.

Jim Kirk was dead, and Spock had killed him.


End file.
